Spectrum
by AudibleHush
Summary: AU AnzuSeto. Anzu’s summer plans were primarily about rest and relaxation. They did not involve answering to the most arrogant jerk she’d ever had the displeasure of knowing. And they certainly didn’t involve falling for said jerk…
1. Default Chapter

_Author's note:_ _This is unapologetic Seto/Anzu all the way. It's in my profile, but I'll reiterate here that I'm rather fond of non-canon, unconventional pairings because it's an opportunity to develop characters beyond what you see in the anime/manga. It's more fun for me to stray from established relationships and build a romance of my own and that's what I intend to do here._

_I know there are those who despise this particular pairing, or just Anzu in general. If you fit either of those categories, then you shouldn't even be here in the first place. Everyone is entitled to their own preferences and I don't have anything against those who don't share my opinions. Just as people are diverse, so are the many pairings for this genre, and it's good to see such a variety in the fandom. _

_Having said that, I expect to be treated with the same respect I hold for those whose views differ from my own. I won't tolerate any reviews that flame my work based on the pairing, or Anzu-love. I appreciate and welcome constructive criticism if it is courteous and regarding the technical aspects of my story (plot, writing, grammar, flow etc), but please keep any catty remarks or petty insults to yourselves and refrain from attacking me personally. Thank you._

_I will add to that, there will be some discrepancies in the story regarding age, and a few other things. That's because it is an AU and as such, certain things have to be different. For example, I couldn't have Mokuba be 11 in this story as it's too old for what I have planned for him. There will be other discrepancies, but nothing that will grossly detract from the characters we all know in love, so just bear with me. Thanks again!_

_Now then, for everybody who enjoys this pairing: Have fun!_

_Ps. I'm a firm believer that if a fic is written in English, then it's done in English. That means no Japanese words or terms that frankly I'd probably be misusing anyway. I also don't make it a point to include the honorifics unless I feel it adds something to the story. In this case, it doesn't so they won't be appearing here. _

_Disclaimer:_ _I don't own any of these characters and you should all be grateful for it. _

_..............................._

**Chapter One**

Mazaki Anzu was seriously annoyed.

Plagued with the evils of a day that had already begun it's rapid descent into Hades before she'd even set foot out of the house that morning, she trudged home with a scowl that marred her otherwise attractive features.

It should have been a good day, great even. The last day of school before summer vacation was always classes packed with time-consuming filler activities, which basically meant chatting with her best friends about their plans for the holiday. In the past, said plans had normally consisted of lazy days at the beach, frequent trips to the amusement park, and cook-outs with the gang in her backyard. Anzu had been looking forward to it…

Until her sadistic parents planned, plotted, and executed a pre-emptive strike against all forms of summer entertainment and relaxation, that is. They'd ambushed her at the breakfast table that very morning. Catching her off-guard between bites of bacon, the blow was delivered; behind her back and without consulting her at all, the sneaky duo had gone out and found summer employment for their only daughter.

She shuddered at the concept. A summer job. Goodbye swimsuits, barbecues, and sleeping in. Hello, early mornings, manual labor, and a drill sergeant boss!

How clever her parents were when they gleefully issued her sentence, how smug. Her father's mustache ineffectively trying to conceal the 'parents-know-best' smirk occupying his lips while he explained the cost of that prestigious dance academy was simply too much for their 'meager' funds. Her mother's sensible tone of voice informing her that the position they'd acquired for her was very lucrative and would more than cover the tuition.

Anzu didn't buy it for a second, of course. The dance academy she planned to attend three times a week in the fall was well within their reach, without forcing her to resort to working all summer. But she also knew that her parents were determined not to coddle their only child. In their determination to see to it that she learn a valuable life lesson or two, they would ensure that she had to really work hard to achieve her dreams.

Which was obviously a load… she worked hard enough as it is. This little maneuver was classic sabotage on their part; trying to dissuade her from continuing to pursue a 'pipe dream' and come back down to earth. She didn't _have _to take the job after all; she could always have the summer she'd been planning all year and forfeit her opportunity to further her dance education through professional instruction in the fall.

_Well played guys, _Anzu thought, _Well played…_

Because there was no way in hell she was about to give up on something she'd been working towards since she was a toddler. Of course, her parents had anticipated Anzu's stubborn determination, they _must_ have. It was the only explanation she could think of for why they'd made certain to find the most heinous position possible for their daughter to fill.

As if it wasn't bad enough to be saddled with a job all summer long, she was now employed by the most incorrigible guy she'd ever had the distinct displeasure of verbally grappling with. No doubt inspired by her frequent loud expulsions of distaste for the guy, her parents had gone ahead and secured him as her boss.

She would have to work eight hours a day, five days a week, in the household of Kaiba Seto.

She cursed the evil, wretched woman on his housekeeping staff who'd decided to vacation in the Bahamas all summer long. Her upcoming absence provided a nice little temporary opening which Anzu's parents had wasted no time greedily snapping up before any other hopefuls had a chance.

If it were any other rich jerk, Anzu might have been able to tap into her seemingly never-ending reserve of peppy, cheerful, 'put-on-a-happy-face' energy and brave the upcoming prison sentence with a brilliant smile. But it wasn't just _any_ rich jerk; it was _Kaiba_ the jerkiest jerk that ever jerked.

He was a billionaire at the tender age of 16, and he clearly thought he was something special as the result. Why he even bothered to attend school, Anzu didn't know, since a private tutor would be much more palatable for the wealthy genius in her opinion. She didn't understand why he would immerse himself in the world of teenagers when he obviously despised them all. The guy was an elitist, and a classically misanthropic one at that.

He was cold and callous, refusing to involve himself with extracurricular activities and shunning everybody who dared look in his general direction. When he bothered to spare some hopeful admirer a glance, his expression was wrought with undisguised disdain. The rest of the time, his indifference could fill a room and the blue intensity of his gaze was more chilling than desirable. To sum it up, he was just your basic egotistical snob with the looks, wealth, and intelligence to back it all up.

Most of the students who attended Domino High ignored Kaiba, or stayed out of his way. Of course, Anzu associated with a merry band of misfits who more often than not found themselves directly in his path.

Yugi, her best friend since childhood, caught Kaiba's attention by being a prodigy. He was small and soft-spoken, but extremely intelligent and resourceful. As the result, the two were in a fierce dead-locked competition for the coveted position of top of the class. The thing was that said competition existed only in Kaiba's mind, as he'd sooner die than be bested by a 'mere mortal' particularly one as innocent and diminutive as Yugi. For his part, Yugi wasn't even trying to beat Kaiba and would sooner be friends with the guy than anything. Which was an attitude that only served to infuriate Seto that much more.

Yugi's close friends were bold and larger-than-life where he was shy and reserved. Aside from Anzu, Jounouchi and Honda completed their group, and both were loud, brash, and extremely vocal about their dislike for Kaiba. Jounouchi in particular found great joy in antagonizing the wealthy CEO, and when the circumstances called for it, Anzu herself wouldn't hesitate to tell Kaiba off if she felt it was warranted. When he tried to bully Yugi, for example, she was all over it. Nobody got away with mistreating her friends.

She'd had her share of run-ins with the arrogant Kaiba, and suffice it to say there was no love lost between the two of them.

And now she would be working for him.

"My parents hate me," she muttered aloud, turning the corner onto her street. "My friends mock me…"

Which is exactly what they had done when she'd broken the news in a horrified voice earlier that morning. Yugi, of course had been appropriately sympathetic, patting her shoulder, assuring her that Kaiba really wasn't as bad as everybody thought he was, and explaining that his job would most likely keep him away from his home for most of the time she was there anyway.

Jounouchi on the other hand, laughed uproariously at the image of her in a French maid's uniform before conspiratorially beseeching her to pilfer a pair of Kaiba's underwear from the laundry room to be exploited. Honda got in on the act, pleased with potential opportunities to get to the evil CEO from inside his own home. She was a _spy _in their twisted minds, a convenient plant in the perfect position to wreak all kinds of good old fashioned havoc.

Yes, she'd wreak havoc alright, all the way to the ashes of her dreams as her resulting dismissal without pay left her with no hope of attending dance school.

They'd merely laughed at her use of melodrama and she decided that with her friends, who the hell needed enemies anyway?

Although that was certainly the least of her worries…

"How was your day, sweetheart?" Her mother's voice was maddeningly cheerful as Anzu stomped into the house.

A glance in her direction revealed a relaxed and content Mazaki Eri, lounging on her favorite armchair, fully enjoying her rare day away from the office. Eri was an attractive middle-aged woman with a serene disposition, level head, and a playful streak. Her unruffled demeanor served her well in the courtroom where her uncanny calm under pressure made her an excellent litigator.

She had passed her steadfastness onto her daughter, along with her stunning good looks. They both shared a tall, slim frame, silky chestnut brown tresses, and large sapphire eyes. Unfortunately, Anzu had inherited something of a temper from her father, and Eri's casual serenity only served to provoke it.

Anzu turned the full force of her scowl onto the unsuspecting matriarch, "You're clearly operating under the false assumption that we're still on speaking terms so I'll have to officially go on the record saying we most certainly are not. Please refrain from addressing me again."

Mrs. Mazaki's lips quirked in amusement, "May I ask when the silence is to be lifted?"

"As a lawyer, you should be acquainted with the concept of negotiation," Anzu replied. "Until you present more acceptable terms, it will continue."

The elder woman affectionately tucked a strand of rich brown hair behind her daughter's ear. "I may be a lawyer, but I am also your mother and I know best. There will be no negotiations."

"This could constitute cruel and unusual punishment you know," Anzu pulled away from her mother. "Any court would agree that repeated subjection to Kaiba is torture."

Mrs. Mazaki's smile widened. "Then I won't punish you for your insolence in this matter as exposure to such a cretin is apparently punishment enough."

"You're all heart, mom."

"And you, my dear, are a bona fide drama queen," she returned. 'Honestly, a summer job isn't so unheard of. Many of my associates have kids that plan to be employed over the break, and would kill for such a position.

"You'll be doing reasonably easy work in a cool, air-conditioned mansion, and bringing home a nice paycheck in the meantime. Besides that, you'll still have plenty of time to hang out with your friends on the weekends."

"Yeah, and reporting to the demonic joy-killing entity who calls himself Kaiba all the while," Anzu retorted. "Sounds like heaven."

"Oh relax, sweet." Mrs. Mazaki slung an arm around her shoulder, "You'll be reporting to the head of the household staff, Mrs. Aihara. I seriously doubt you'll ever even see Mr. Kaiba."

"In his own home?"

"He's a reputed workaholic," she waved her hands dismissively, "He'll be at the office all day and you'll be safe at home long before he returns to the mansion."

"I guess…" Anzu sighed. "But still, to be locked away in his Evil Lair all summer long… you could have at least went for a job that would have allowed me a chance to score a tan. I'll be white as a ghost come fall."

"I highly doubt it," her mother was dubious. "Anyway, this was the best job we could find for you, and you should at the very least be grateful you'll have enough money to score a spot in your dance school come fall."

"Yay," she said flatly.

"Well, you could always skip the summer job," Eri reasoned, "Your father and I aren't forcing you to do anything… Of course if that's the case, there will no doubt be a group of disappointed instructors at _Abukara__ Dance Academy_ when the fall semester starts."

Stalemate.

"You and dad aren't parents," Anzu accused, "You're devious, dream-annihilating sadists determined to destroy me before I have a chance to take New York by storm."

"Uh-oh, you caught us," Mrs. Mazaki feigned horror. "Damn! To have our cover blown when we were so close to achieving our goal! The demon masquerading as your father will be incensed when I break the news."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," her daughter muttered, stalking towards the kitchen. "Mock my pain."

"All those years of careful planning down the drain," she continued, "And the cost of those 'dream-destruction' lessons were exorbitant!"

"Ha-ha," Anzu stuck her head into the fridge, "You'd make a killing in Vegas."

"I told him to keep the receipts, but he just had to destroy the evidence. Do you think Satan will give us a refund anyway? Maybe store credit?"

"I'll ask him when I report to work Monday morning."

"See that you do," Mrs. Mazaki smiled brilliantly at her daughter in a manner that only accentuated how similar they were in appearance. "If we're lucky, the 'evilness' of your father and myself will pale in comparison to your villainous boss."

"Okay, that's it! The silent treatment is in full effect!"

"Aw, you're too kind, darling."

Anzu muttered something under her breath and started to retreat to her bedroom.

"I love you too honey!" her mother cheerfully called to her back, "And you'll thank me later for your fabulous summer!"

Now that was just an outright lie; Anzu's vacation was liable to be a veritable disaster.

_..................................._

Mrs. Aihara was a walking stereotype.

One look at her rigid posture, sharp features, and essentially colorless hair tied back in a tight bun, and it was obvious the woman was missing her militant roots. She was tall and fierce looking, a stern, no-nonsense, ball-busting type of woman. The perfect person to run Kaiba's house, and run it she did.

Anzu couldn't help but feel a little intimidated from her position in the perfectly straight line the staff had been ordered into the moment the clock struck 7:00am. After all, she was far from stern, and delighted in nonsense. She'd bust balls if she had to, but was perfectly content befriending those who possessed them. And she didn't respond well to bullies, which was what Mrs. Aihara clearly was.

In light of this, she could foresee problems in their future… potential job-jeopardizing problems if she wasn't careful.

She remained still as the imposing woman lectured the staff about household policies, unwilling to stand out on her first day… although admittedly, she was almost certain she would be chewed out before the day was over. She hadn't missed the frosty look directed straight at her when Mrs. Aihara went over the finer parts of the dress code.

In her defense, Anzu had dressed according to the instructions she'd received the day before her first shift, and she'd almost gotten it right too. Like the rest of the staff, her shirt was white and collared, she wore black dress shoes, and had pulled her hair away from her face as was the policy. Apart from the fact she'd gone for a more stylish French twist as opposed to the boring ponytail the other women donned, she had been confident that she'd meet the required standards.

Then she'd gone and screwed up the skirt part of the uniform. According to policy the men were required to wear black pants or shorts, the same for the women, but with the extra option of a skirt. Having few black articles of clothing in her possession, Anzu had to choose between wool pants and a cute mini-skirt. Who in their right mind would have chosen the pants in the blistering summer heat?

Well apparently anybody who wanted to avoid the wrath of Aihara, since as it turned out Anzu's adorable skirt was at least three inches short of the acceptable length. Oops.

As the household leader wrapped up her lecture, it was clear to Anzu that her faux-pas wasn't about to be overlooked. Mrs. Aihara zeroed in on her the second the rest of the staff was dismissed and with a curt nod motioned for her to have a seat.

Anzu obeyed and crossed her legs carefully as she took a seat at the kitchen table, painfully aware that her new position only made the skirt appear shorter.

"Mazaki, I understand this is your first day in Mr. Kaiba's employment?"

"Um, yes ma'am." She had no intention of further irritating the stone-faced woman.

"But you must know him well from school," Mrs. Aihara continued with a suspicious tone that caught her attention.

"Uh, I guess so," she met the elder woman's grey eyes, eyebrow raised. Where was this going exactly? Was the drill sergeant before her trying to extract a confession of her loathing of Kaiba? "I mean, as well as anyone knows him, really."

Mrs. Aihara pursed her lip, "Then this is odd, indeed."

"What is odd, exactly?" Now she was getting worried.

"Mr. Kaiba has requested that you report directly to him upon your arrival," she explained. "He has a special assignment for you it seems."

Anzu was floored.

She had been certain that one such as Kaiba would not concern himself with his lowly housekeepers and had hoped to escape his notice. She assumed he'd be so wrapped up in the business of running is company and would thus defer all household responsibilities to Mrs. Aihara. With any luck, he shouldn't have even known she was even working in his home at all.

But she had misjudged the young billionaire, and now it seemed almost absurd that she had thought otherwise. _Of course, _Kaiba knew what was going on in his own home. Did she really expect somebody as distrustful and thorough as he was wouldn't have his finger on the pulse of every aspect of his life from the office to his household? As if he'd let somebody else make even the most minor decision. He'd obviously demand to approve any employee who hoped to enter his premises, even if he did let Mrs. Aihara oversee them.

And thanks to her attitude when it came to him in the past, this special assignment was no doubt _very special_.

_Nah, _she thought to herself, _He's an arrogant, emotionally unavailable, ruthless, misanthropic, bastard but surely he wouldn't sink to such pettiness. He's above such juvenile nonsense. He's more professional than employing someone only to lord over them like a sadistic…_

_evil__…_

_ruthless__…_

_…_

_…oh god.__ I'm doomed!_

Mrs. Aihara obviously noticed her panicked expression and much to Anzu's surprise, actually cracked a wry smile.

"I see you're well-educated on the less savory rumors Mr. Kaiba has circulating about him," she said with a faintly amused tone. "I can assure you they're not _all _true."

"W-what?" Anzu blinked, "No… no, it's not that it's… I just realized that if I want to go to dance school in the fall, I'll be reporting directly to Kaiba Seto for the whole summer… it's um, a little… disconcerting is all."

The wry smile became a full-fledged grin, and Anzu decided maybe the old woman wasn't such a stereotype after all.

"Well I'm certain Mr. Kaiba won't have you doing anything non-union," she said, grey eyes twinkling. "And at the very least his orders have completely absolved you of answering to me."

"Well with all due respect to your tough reputation," Anzu told the old woman, "I can honestly say I'd much rather be tempered by _your_ iron fist."

"Ah, I can see I'm the lesser of two evils," Mrs. Aihara shook her head, "But there is fire behind your eyes, Mazaki. I think you'll handle yourself just fine with our legendary boss."

"Oh that's not what I'm worried about, Kaiba doesn't scare me," she assured her, "I just don't know how I'll manage to keep from being fired. I mean this skirt alone is enough motivation for him to give me an earful, and you know he'd just _love _doing it, and who even knows what this 'special' assignment is and… oh god, he doesn't have a dungeon in here does he?"

All stereotypes were shattered when the old woman erupted into a deep belly laugh.

_............................._

Kaiba Seto was seriously annoyed.

If it wasn't bad enough his brother's nanny just _had _to vacation in the Bahamas all summer, he'd exercised a rare moment of stupidity and actually asked for the eight-year-old's input for a potential replacement. Now he was about to be saddled with a freakishly cheerful, empty-headed, cheerleader prancing around his hallowed halls with her manic grin and overconfident attitude.

He knew he should have gone with his first impulse and sent Mazaki Anzu's resume to the paper shredder the moment it appeared on his desk. He'd assumed it was meant as some sort of joke, as he could never understand the odd brand of humor she shared with her equally stupid friends (Mouto Yugi begrudgingly excepted). Unfortunately, his curiosity had seen to the resume's survival as it lingered on his desk long enough for Mokuba to spot and now… now he was stuck with her.

The last thing he needed was that moron in his employment. She was a wild card, unpredictable and filled to the brim with vibrant emotion. Seto didn't like such exuberance, despised unpredictability.

He was all that was logical and calculating, and chose to surround himself with people (as people were a necessary evil in life) that meshed with these characteristics. He lived for subtlety and cool finesse, and viewed others as if they were pieces in the puzzle of his existence. He had no use for flaky, soft-hearted (and headed) individuals who added color and disorder to said puzzle. They were better left to happily waste away in their own stupidity.

Such people were weak, where Kaiba was strong. He'd achieved endless power in his short life, and would only achieve more if all went according to plan. His natural predatory instincts combined with sharp intelligence, and a lifetime of repressing emotions had made Seto hard. Although he did have his weaknesses, as irritating as they were.

For all his power the one thing, or rather person, who softened Seto's edge was his brother. Young, innocent, Mokuba who was the embodiment of every trait Seto normally despised. But where the weakness of others was contemptible in Kaiba's eyes, his love for his brother tempered such notions and bred within him a fierce loyalty and protectiveness.

There was not a single person, object, or concept more important to Seto than Mokuba. He would destroy anybody who dared harm a hair on the boy's head, would sooner die himself than see him unhappy. Through Mokuba, Seto was allowed to be weak, allowed to have emotions. He hardened himself to the rest of the world that shunned him, and saved all his humanity for his brother.

Which was precisely why Mokuba had such sway with the great Kaiba Seto. He'd needed a nanny who he'd like, who would amuse him and play with him, who'd be his friend. And the second the boy spotted Mazaki's resume, he'd been dead set against any other potential candidate for all Seto's persuasion.

Mokuba just couldn't get out of his little head the one time Mazaki had actually managed to do something other than waste space. Seto would admit he held a certain respect for her ever since the day she'd scared off some asshole who'd dared attack his little brother. But he certainly didn't hold her in the same light as Mokuba who was convinced she was his hero.

Ever since that day, the boy was smitten with Mazaki Anzu who was brave, and beautiful, and just so darned nice! Oh, that she would bestow such a smile on him every time he waved hello! Her sincere enquiries after his well-being every time he happened to run into her! That time she'd kissed his cheek after he'd given her Valentine's Day chocolate! She was a goddess, an angel, the only person who could possibly look after him for the long summer days Seto himself would be occupied!

He sneered at the thought. Her, a goddess! He would sooner call the shaggy blonde-haired idiot she hung out with an intellectual. What was his name, Jounouchi something-or-other? The fool actually thought he was good enough to occupy the same space as Seto, let alone put himself on his level. And now he was about to employ his uber-perky friend.

But such were the sacrifices one in his position had to make to please his brother, and he would at least grudgingly admit that Mazaki would at least do well in such a position. She seemed to have a remarkable way with Mokuba, and he was forced to admit that maybe she wasn't completely useless if she could make him happy.

His musings were interrupted by a steady knock on his office door, and he replied with an irritable invitation to enter.

And there she was. Her posture was excellent, appearance neat and tidy save for the skirt that should have been longer. Seto was certain she'd dressed to attract attention to her shapely long legs, and was annoyed to realize she'd been effective. If there was anything he hated more than weak stupidity, it was weak stupidity in an enticing package.

Faced with an opponent with long legs, slim hips, full lips, and other attractive features and his baser instincts had a say whether he wanted to hear them or not. He made a point to ignore them, and coolly met her heavily lashed eyes.

"Mazaki."

She returned his stare boldly, flames dancing behind luminous blue and Seto was annoyed to find intelligence reflected in her gaze. Such a discovery did not gel with his preconceived notions of her apparent stupidity and only added to her unpredictability. Aside from that, intelligence in an enticing package was the worst kind of intelligence just as is was the worst kind of ineptitude.

"Kaiba." Her flat tone matched his.

"Have a seat," he motioned to the leather chair in front of his desk.

Her gaze flickered quickly to her skirt, "I'd rather stand if you don't mind."

Seto smirked. It was a small victory, but her apparent uneasiness over the length of her skirt in his presence gave him an edge. Where another kind of woman might use her sexuality to gain the upper hand, Mazaki was clearly less experienced in these matters. While she was more than capable of exploiting her assets in such a manner, she still had a measure of innocence that ensured a more revealing outfit was a point of vulnerability for her.

"This could take a few minutes," he told her, "But if you're determined to stand, I won't stop you this time."

Her eyebrow shot up at the end of his sentence, but Seto masterfully hid his smile. Instead he pressed forward, satisfied that his idea of pleasantries had been exchanged.

"I'll cut straight to the chase," he crisply informed her. "I want you to look after my brother for the summer. You're… fond of Mokuba so I know it won't be a problem. Of course there are rules I expect you to follow and if you have any notion otherwise, please leave now as I have no other use for you."

Mazaki, for her part looked extremely relieved and just a little indignant, and Seto silently congratulated himself on his second victory. While she had seemed confident when she came in, her obvious relief now revealed that she had been hiding her initial nervousness. __

"I don't have any problem with following your rules," Mazaki replied, "You're right, I do like Mokuba. We'll have fun."

"I expect he will if you intend to remain under my employment," Seto told her. "Now here are the rules: You will report directly to me, and only me. All issues regarding my brother's well-being will be brought to my attention. Mokuba's safety comes foremost, before anybody else's, including your own. I expect that you will clear all activities with me before you leave the house so I can make the proper arrangements for security. You are not to use your own discretion; when in doubt, _always _consult me. I can't stress this enough."

"Oh I bet you can try," Mazaki's tone was subtly sarcastic, all disdain masked with a cheerful edge.

"If you won't take this seriously," his own tone was acidic, "Then you're welcome to seek employment elsewhere."

She actually dared to roll her eyes, stealing a point right out from under his nose. "Of course I take this seriously, I'd never allow harm to come to a child under my care. But come on, Mokuba's a good kid with a good head on his shoulders. I highly doubt I'll need to consult you on his behavior."

"Just so long as you know who is ultimately in charge." Her obvious regard for his brother was her saving grace.

"As if you'd let me forget," she retorted, eyes flashing attractively with irritation.

Seto smirked, "I'm glad we understand each other."

"Thrilled, really."

"Hmm, try to curb your sarcasm when in the presence of Mokuba."

Mazaki surprised him by striding over to his desk and leaning down until they were eye to eye. One point was awarded to her for that act alone before she managed to bag another with her next statement,

"I can assure you Kaiba, that I will more than live up to your _shining _example."

He'd die before admitting it aloud, but Seto was annoyed once again to find himself slightly disoriented by her gaze. The blue of her eyes was clear and bright, fearlessly meeting his own cloaked, navy with unbridled intensity. It made him catch his breath before her closeness revealed the mortifying fact that her soft brown hair smelled _really _good.

In true Kaiba Seto form, he would not give his opponent the satisfaction of outwardly affecting him, so he ignored the insane impulse he felt to bury his face in her hair. Instead, the ever-composed, ice-cold businessman favored the loathed girl with a steady, unimpressed, glare.

"Welcome aboard, Mazaki," he said in a tone that hardly conveyed any 'welcoming' sentiments. "Don't disappoint my brother."

"I'll do my best not to scar him for life," she assured him while thankfully withdrawing from his personal space. "But I do have one question before you dismiss me."

"Yes?"

"Well since I'm not technically a housekeeper and will basically be babysitting Mokuba the whole summer," she said, "I don't have to follow the dress code anymore do I?"

Seto seized the opportunity to win another point and took his time studying Mazaki's shapely legs. "I don't believe you're following the dress code _now_."

He called it sweeping victory when the pretty blush infused her cheeks.

"Mokuba's room is two doors down from my office on the left," he finally dismissed her, "You may wake him up."

"I'm on it," she declared turning to leave.

It was only after she left the office that Seto allowed himself to concede he might be in some trouble, followed immediately by the billionth annoying observation regarding Mazaki.

She looked really good walking away in that skirt.

_..................................._

_Author's note:_ _Yay__! It's finally set up! Time to go rest my fingers._


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's note: Thanks for the feedback guys! I appreciate it 'muchly' (it can too be a word!) _

_………………………_

**Chapter 2**

Anzu waited until she was well out of view of Kaiba's office before she allowed herself to slump against the wall with relief.

So apparently the Big Bad Wolf wasn't _completely_ out to get her, despite what the predatory gleam in his pretty eyes would have her believe as he'd ogled her legs. Of course his leering wasn't done out of admiration, she noted, he would never actually see her that way. In typical Kaiba fashion, he'd simply meant to make her uncomfortable and assert his dominance.

And he'd succeeded too, she'd been mortified to realize even while she felt her cheeks heat up right in front of his piercing gaze. He'd smirked, relishing his small victory, just another point to add to the scorecard that was rapidly filling up in his favor. God, he was such an asshole.

He sat calmly behind his desk like some sort of master strategist viewing each unnecessary interpersonal relationship competitively. Always trying to outmaneuver those he labeled as his opponents, each smile, glance, utterance just another move in the never-ending game he'd created for himself.

It annoyed her. Anzu could kick back and play _Scrabble_ or _Monopoly_ now and then, but she couldn't stand games when it came to people. She liked the direct approach, never beating around the bush or equivocating, she would always cut through the shit and say exactly what she meant.

Granted, it would sometimes lead to putting her foot in her mouth, or making a complete idiot of herself. But life was too short to concoct elaborate walls around her heart or throw up smokescreens left, right, and center. How could somebody truly _live _their life if they didn't do it honestly?

She hated the way Kaiba made her feel with his games. In his lair, on his turf, he already had the upper-hand. Then to stand before him while he lounged in his office in a skirt that had never made her feel so self-conscious every other time she'd worn it. His sex appeal was more than apparent in such close quarters with brown hair falling carelessly into smoldering navy blue eyes. Strong, slender hands casually rested on his desk, and the button up shirt he wore hinted at the muscular frame it covered. When did he get so hot, anyway?

Which was just another thing that annoyed her about him; the fact that such a cold-hearted bastard could be so beautiful… it just wasn't right. Or fair.

Anzu shook her head, and pried herself away from the wall. This was stupid. She wasn't here to fret over the ridiculously good-looking guy she couldn't stand, she was supposed to be waking up his brother.

Now there was the _true_ Kaiba mystery: How the two widely different siblings shared the same genes. Mokuba was a sweet, shy little boy who actually kind of reminded her of Yugi sometimes. She'd first met the smoky eyed cutie when she'd passed the elementary school by her house on her way to catch the bus a few months ago.

It was still rather early, and Mokuba told her after the fact that Seto had dropped him off before classes so he could set up his science project before the other students arrived. Of course, not two seconds after the limo vanished from sight, some over-muscled thug looking to make a quick buck, advanced on the poor kid.

Anzu was no kind of hero, and under normal circumstances wouldn't think of challenging the brawny guy who could have easily snapped her neck. But she _really _hated bullies, and something about Mokuba's innocent, frightened features made her move. A face full of pepper spray and a kick to the crotch later, and the thug was incapacitated until the cops arrived.

Since that day, Anzu had her own four foot tall, dark haired little fan club. Mokuba would wave at her every morning when she passed his school on her way to her own, and he'd even given her chocolate on Valentine's day. The boy was smitten, and Anzu was quite taken with his sweet disposition and quiet cleverness.

If her job was looking after him all summer, then maybe this all wouldn't be so bad. At the very least, time spent in Mokuba's pleasant company would take the edge off her inevitable association with Seto.

"Knock, knock," she called out even while she opened the door Kaiba had instructed belonged to his brother. "Awake yet, Mokuba?"

"Yeah."

Kaiba Mokuba sat in the center of his bed in dinosaur pajamas, his gray-lavender eyes focused solely on the big screen TV in front of him, shaggy dark hair sticking up in every which direction. He bit his lip in an adorable expression while he concentrated on his video game.

"Hey you," Anzu grinned at the boy. "Your brother told me you'd be sleeping."

Mokuba paused the game and set the controller aside, before turning to her with a wide smile of his own. "I wanted to be awake when you got here."

"Cool," she plopped down on a bright blue beanbag near the foot of his bed. "So how _awesome_ is it that the two of us get to hang out all summer?"

"Pretty awesome," he confirmed, beaming at her. "We're going to have fun."

"You bet we are!"

For the first time that day, she actually felt pretty good about herself. Sure, the world was out to get her, but at least one Kaiba was glad to see her. The hopeful little boy's smile was enough to push all the stress from her tense muscles, and a newly relaxed Anzu suddenly felt the inherent playfulness she'd inherited from her mother slipping in.

She shot up from the beanbag, adopting a stern pose reminiscent of Mrs. Aihara's from earlier and raised an eyebrow in mock seriousness.

"But don't be fooled into thinking this is all about fun and games," she soberly stated. "I do have a whole list of activities that are off limits, regardless of how cool they are."

Mokuba looked as though he didn't know whether to be nervous or amused, "What do you mean?"

"Well for starters, scrap all plans you might have been formulating for an end-of-the-school-year-musical-celebration," she was the picture of seriousness as she presented the rule, "There will be no singing for the duration of the summer."

The boy dissolved into laughter, "No singing? At all?"

"Hmm," she pretended to give it some thought, "Well, I suppose I can't stop you from hitting a few notes in the shower, but for your own safety I must insist you keep it to a bare minimum."

He grinned, "If you say so."

"Oh, I do say so," she insisted as she approached the bed, leaning towards him conspiratorially, "And here's the really important part: under no circumstances are you to ask me to sing with you."

"Why not?"

Anzu crumpled onto the mattress with a belabored sigh, and snatched up a pillow to bury her face in.

"I can't sing," she admitted tragically.

Mokuba plucked the pillow away, and studied her face carefully, "Of course you can sing."

"Oh no I can't," she gravely informed him, "I once thought I could too, before I was confronted with the terrible truth."

She was mostly teasing, but Anzu was telling the truth; she _did_ have a terrible singing voice and there was a signed contract in her wallet to prove it.

"You see Mokuba, one day my three friends, Yugi, Jounouchi, Honda and I got this wild idea to test out Yugi's grandfather's brand new Karaoke machine," she began the tale as though recalling a troubling memory.

Truthfully the incident, while mortifying, was one she remembered with amusement now and she was certain her charge would agree.

"Honda was first up, and surprised us all with a voice reminiscent of a young Frank Sinatra."

"Frank, who?"

Anzu smiled fondly at the boy's confused expression, "An American singer whose popularity soared back in the 'old days.' I'll bring some of my dad's old records by sometime for you to listen to… for strictly educational purposes of course."

He nodded excitedly, "Really?"

"Of course," she couldn't resist reaching out to ruffle his hair. "Now where was I? Oh right. Yugi and Jounouchi performed a tolerable duet. It was nothing to write home about, but it didn't make you want to go deaf either."

Mokuba snickered, "And then it was your turn?"

"Ah!" She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead as though traumatized, "If only I'd contracted laryngitis that day and spared my poor friends such torture."

"That bad, huh?"

She recalled the horrified expressions on the faces of the three people she held dear and smiled ruefully, "Jounouchi actually drew up this written contract and made me sign it, swearing I would never sing again. Honda demanded to know what the song had done to deserve such abuse."

"And Yugi?" the boy leaned forward, on the edge of his proverbial seat.

"_Yugi_actually went so far as to suggest that maybe singing wasn't exactly an area I excelled at," she informed him, "But he's the nice one."

"Okay," Mokuba said through his laughter, "No singing, I understand. What else?"

"What else?"

"Well yeah," his eyes were wide and sparkling beneath messy bangs, "You probably have more rules to make sure I don't get any ideas that will just end up embarrassing you. What else can't you do?"

"Math," Anzu said seriously, "If it wasn't for Yugi's patient tutoring, I would have bombed that course worse than I did this year."

"I'll make a mental note not to do any math this summer then," he decided. "What else?"

Anzu smiled inwardly at his eagerness while drawing her eyebrows together to regard him suspiciously.

"I see your true design," she nudged him playfully with her elbow, "You mean to know all my weaknesses so you can exploit them."

The boy was the picture of innocence, "Not I."

"Hmm, right…" she eyed him carefully even while she mentally went over her long list of shortcomings. "Well at the risk of having you fire me over my lack of marketable skills, I suppose it would be unfair of your caretaker to withhold such valuable information."

"True," his eyes were full of repressed laughter.

"And I can tell I can trust you with such incriminating information," she reached out to pinch his cheeks, "You have an honest face."

He blushed fiercely and Anzu giggled, completely charmed by the adorable sweetness of her charge.

"All right," she leaned in, glancing around nervously. "I'll tell all so long as you swear not to repeat it to anybody."

"I swear," he promised solemnly.

"Hmm, that won't cut it," she held up her smallest finger, motioning for him to do the same, "You'll need to pinky swear."

Mokuba obligingly linked his pinky through hers, and they shook on it.

He was so cutely grave about the ritual that Anzu impulsively leaned forward to give him a warm hug, "I can tell we're going to be great friends."

The boy, now speechless, could do nothing but blush.

_………………………_

The second Anzu stepped outside the Kaiba mansion she was enveloped with a feeling of liberation. Sure, she'd had a lot of fun playing with Mokuba all day, but that didn't change the fact that she was still on his brother's turf. It was nice to be heading home to the comfortable, familiar environment… even if her traitorous parents _did _live there too.

Anzu's feet were light as she practically skipped to the edge of Kaiba's driveway, and she grinned at the security guard as he unlocked the massive gate to let her through. Jounouchi had called her cell phone earlier to arrange transportation for the end of her shift. He'd been determined to pick her up after work, but she'd known her 'doting' friend was being far from charitable with his offer. He just wanted to scope out Kaiba's digs and possibly get a couple of insults in should the lord of the manor be kicking around somewhere.

Nonetheless, Anzu wasn't about to turn down a ride home, even if her friend _was_ liable to start giving her a hard time the moment she set foot inside his precious pick-up truck. There were some things a girl just had to get used to when all her friends happened to be of the teenage guy variety, and she was definitely accustomed to the lack of maturity surrounding her every day. Most of the time, she even liked Jounouchi and Honda's teasing.

Today, she knew Jou's good-natured abuse would only provoke a Charlie horse to his upper arm, and an icy glare. After all, her predicament was nothing to be laughed at, and she had to keep the boys in line lest they get any ideas that their behavior was acceptable.

She smiled faintly at the prospect of taking out all her frustration on her thick-skinned chum, even as the crunch of gravel revealed an approaching vehicle. She blinked rapidly as she peered towards the source of the disturbance. Jou on time? Unheard of!

… And apparently his record was still intact as it was not a bright green pick-up truck that entered her line of vision, but rather a sleek navy blue Porsche convertible with the top mercilessly up in such blistering heat. She watched with unconcealed awe as the beautiful machine expertly maneuvered across loose gravel, continuing in a straight line with nary a spot of dust marring the smooth curves.

The car was all that was sexy, classy, and alluring, moving with subtle grace and speed, like a limber dancer gliding weightlessly on rough pavement. It slid skillfully to an effortless stop in front of her and purred softly while it lingered. Anzu tried very hard not to salivate.

Suddenly, the tinted passenger window rolled down, and she forced her jaw closed upon spotting the driver.

"What, no limo?" she asked Kaiba, raising her eyebrow at the gorgeous steed he commanded.

Which was typical of the calculating young man, really. Why wouldn't he drive his own car once he was legal, equating the road with his very existence, determined to control his own destiny. Wherever said road would take him was where he wanted to be, and he'd have his own foot on the gas, and his own hands on the wheel all the way.

Countenance fashioned to reflect expertly cultivated indifference with just a dash of distaste, Seto merely looked at her,

"Get in."

"Excuse me?" she stepped away from the seductive vehicle, taken aback by the command.

To be trapped inside such an enticing set of wheels with a guy she despised and loathed… A guy whose cold blue eyes revealed no insight into his true motivations and provided no clues as to where he intended to take her. A guy whose casually undone top three shirt buttons revealed a glimpse of solid chest muscles so perfectly defined, she had an insane urge to run her hands over them and –

"Are you deaf?" he interrupted her erratic thoughts with a tone of disgust. "Or were the instructions too confusing?"

She was just considering fondling this jerk's beautiful chest?

"I've got to be out of my mind," she muttered to herself.

"I won't dispute that," Kaiba commented, and she was irritated to find herself blushing. Honestly, twice in one day!

"I heard you, and understood the first time," Anzu snappily replied to his previous query. "I just… no thanks, Kaiba, I already have a ride and since I'm off the clock –,"

"I wasn't asking, Mazaki," he casually informed her, "I'll be driving you home every day as it's the only available time for us to discuss Mokuba."

"Oh." She brushed a sweaty strand of hair away from her forehead and glanced down the road. "Well, I guess that makes sense, but to tell you the truth, there's really not much to discuss in regards to Mokuba today, and I _did _already arrange a ride, so maybe we could skip this part just this once."

"You expect leniency simply because it's your first day in my employment?" He narrowed his eyes, "I don't know what kind of jobs you've had before Mazaki, but that's not how I run things."

"And I get that, I do." Anzu continued to study the far road just in case Jounouchi's truck magically appeared. "But you didn't tell me this morning that I would have to ride home with you, and Jou's going to be here any minute."

She realized that maybe dropping the name of Kaiba's sworn enemy wasn't the way to go about getting her way when she noticed the scowl working its way across his attractive features.

"I'm sure it will be just as easy to call Katsuya back and tell him to go back to his doghouse," Seto said with a sneer, "Now get in."

Anzu rolled her large blue eyes, and was about to acquiesce when the uncomfortably familiar problem of her short skirt presented itself. Just as she'd been unwilling to give him a free show earlier in his office, she wasn't about to sit next to him in the lust-inducing car in such a state of exposure. Unless…

After a mere moment's hesitation, she quickly unbuttoned her blouse to reveal a pale pink spaghetti strap tank underneath. Then, she hurriedly ducked into the car, concealing a good portion of her legs with the newly discarded white cotton.

She was painfully aware of the obviousness of the act as she fastened her seatbelt, but decided that the awkward display of underwear would have been worse. Even so, she winced as she felt another point slip away in Kaiba's favor. He really was such a jerk.

"May I suggest disposing of the skirt when you get home, if it's such a nuisance," his patronizing voice added insult to injury.

Anzu gritted her teeth and replied with the icy glare she had been saving for Jounouchi. (She refrained from attacking him with the Charlie Horse, also meant for her friend, though the urge was strong.) Then, she turned away from the jerk to dig through her bright yellow handbag for her cell phone, and selected said friend's number on speed dial.

"Heya Anzu!" Jounouchi answered on the third ring, "Listen, I'm real sorry I'm late, but you'll never guess what happened to me. No, go ahead guess!"

"I don't know, you encountered Bigfoot harassing a group of orphans and had to throw down with him?"

"Close," he enthusiastically replied, "So close, but actually-,"

"Save it, Jou," she cut him off before he could get into it, "I don't need you to drive me home, I was able to make other arrangements."

"Other arrangements? I thought you refused to get within 10 yards of Honda's motorcycle let alone _ride _on the thing."

"I don't."

"Well Yugi doesn't have his license yet, so unless your parents decided to actually give you a break and let you take the car, then I'm at a loss."

She sighed loudly, "I do have other friends you know."

"Oh yeah?" Jou's tone was dubious, "And which of these supposed pals of yours is playing chauffeur today?"

"That's none of your business," she snapped.

"Oh-ho-ho," he was clearly growing amused. "Don't tell me our Anzu went out and got herself a little secret boyfriend."

"Knock it off."

"Please, do tell. Who is this mystery man?"

Anzu grinned evily, and glanced over at her driver, "Kaiba Seto."

Dead silence. She smiled victoriously, before her friend finally collected his wits to reply,

"Spend one day working with the bastard and you're already getting cozy? Anzu, I'm disappointed."

"Shut up," she commanded. "It's not as though I had a choice in the matter."

"You mean he forced you to… I'll _kill _him!"

"Relax, it's not like that." She glared at Kaiba as he irritably cleared her throat to signal she should wrap this up. "Anyway, I've got to go. I'll explain later alright?"

"You'd better! I don't like the idea of you occupying the same vehicle as that-,"

Anzu hung up, unwilling to indulge her friend's rant in her current state of mind. She couldn't continue to be distracted with Kaiba just inches away, the two of them confined to such close quarters. She wished he'd take the top down, and open them up to the hot summer evening, allowing the humid air to settle between them like a barrier.

Instead the air conditioning, that would have been soothing in another vehicle with another driver, only served to further separate them from the warm world outside.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Anzu tossed the awkward question into stifling silence.

"I see that your brain has an equally hard time retaining information as it does processing it," Kaiba arrogantly replied, "If you've already forgotten that I mean to discuss my brother."

Anzu narrowed her eyes, "I know that. What I meant was what exactly did you want to talk about, in regards to Mokuba?"

"Well for starters, what did the two of you do?"

"We played video games mostly, ate lunch, he showed me the grounds," She smiled fondly, recalling their day.

"I assume he was pleased to see you this morning," the prospect clearly annoyed Seto.

"He was already awake when I knocked on his door, waiting for me. He's such a sweetie," Anzu giggled in spite of herself. "I told him I was excited to hang out with him all summer, and then gave him a breakdown of things we can't do as the result of my ineptitude in certain areas."

Kaiba took his eyes off the road long enough to look down his nose at her.

"You presume to place restrictions on Mokuba's summer activities simply because you find some things difficult?"

"Oh lighten up, already." Anzu sighed with annoyance, "It was just silly stuff, things like singing, and cooking, and math. Nothing important."

"I don't find math unimportant."

"Yeah well in the summer it is."

"Hmm," he turned a corner, and it suddenly occurred to Anzu that he hadn't asked her for directions which meant that he apparently knew where she lived.

She didn't know what to think about that.

"So you'd expose yourself to a mere child," Kaiba said suddenly, after a long pause, "Interesting."

"Huh?" She turned in her seat so she was fully facing him. "You moron! As if I would _ever _do something so depraved and immoral, just what the hell kind of pervert do you take me for anyway?"

"An inept one," he calmly replied without taking his eyes off the road. "I wasn't suggesting anything of the kind, and if you were following our conversation, you would know that."

She blinked, blushed for the third time that day, and sunk back into her seat.

"You meant exposing my _weaknesses_…"

"Obviously."

"Well, it was all in good fun okay?" she was suddenly defensive. "It's not as though I related all my deep, dark secrets or anything, I was just trying to put myself on the kid's level, trying to establish myself as his friend as opposed to his boss."

"You are his caretaker, not his friend, and regardless it is unwise to divulge incriminating information to one you are supposed to be in charge of, or anybody else for that matter."

"You know, you're absolutely right," Anzu mockingly agreed, "A child with the disposition of sweet Mokuba would jump at the chance to exploit his nanny. And I cringe at the ammunition I've given him! I mean, just imagine all the havoc he can wreak now that he knows my singing voice is awful! Oh, the horror! What have I done? _What_ have I _done_?!"

Kaiba turned onto her street with a disgusted sigh, "You really are rather juvenile aren't you?"

"Well some of us teenagers are known to act our age," she informed him as though divulging a scandalous secret.

"I'd say you and your friends behave more like second graders."

"Yeah well we have fun," she defended herself and her friends, "Which is exactly what I plan to do with Mokuba this summer."

"Hmm," Kaiba stopped in front of her house, and turned to study her. Stormy blue eyes contemptuously swept over her features and Anzu glared back.

"What?"

"I just hope you refrain from introducing any more questionable methods to achieve your goal," he said with a hint of warning in his tone.

She laughed humorlessly, "Really? And what, may I ask, 'orthodox' methods do you employ to have a good time?"

Seto smiled enigmatically, and Anzu was shocked to find not a trace of his normal disdain.

"Good evening, Mazaki. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Oh I'm looking forward to it," she sarcastically replied, even as she hastily scrambled out of the car.

It wasn't until the Porsche was speeding away that she realized she hadn't been very careful about exiting the vehicle and as the result had no doubt given him a glimpse of bright yellow cotton panties on the way.

She vowed to burn her stupid, adorable miniskirt.

_…………………………_

"Ah, she made it home in one piece!" Mazaki Eri turned to her husband, feigning shock as her daughter angrily stormed into the house. "And here I was worried her demonic boss would subjugate her before the day was done."

"Just shut up," Anzu growled as she made a beeline for her bedroom.

"Hmm, her speech patterns seem to have degenerated into violent grunts," Eri observed as Mr. Mazaki tried to cover his laughter, "Perhaps she _is _under satanic influence."

"I have no parents!"

_…………………………_

_Author's note: Next chapter, more of Seto's POV. Thanks for reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's note: I'm back from vacation with a fabulous tan and sun-streaks in my hair. Ah, the beach has been good to me! Anyway, I just want to take a second to thank all who have reviewed and continue to read this story. All of you rock out, and I appreciate every last one of you. Thanks!_

_Now then, aren't you excited? You're finally going to learn the significance of my seemingly irrelevant story title! …yeah, well you can feign excitement right?_

_………………………_

**Chapter Three**

The patriarch of the Mazaki household was always the first awake each morning.

Contrary to his wife's laid back disposition, and his daughter's cheerful exuberance, Mazaki Heiji was a serious, steadfast man. Tall, broad shouldered, and often adorned in plaid, his appearance perfectly reflected a hardworking, diligent, man who'd get the job done. But there was intelligence and good humor in his forest green eyes that betrayed his lighter side, and his manners were impeccable.

Although in spite of this, he still had a stubborn streak which he had passed onto his daughter. It was a quality which ensured that the _beginning_ of each day should at least hold some semblance of familiarity and routine where the rest of it often scattered into unpredictability (compliments of his lively family).

Having grown up on a farm, Heiji's preference for rising at dawn had more to do with years of training his body to adapt to the hours before most of the world had risen then anything. But his inherent sense of self-discipline ensured that relocation to the city hadn't stamped out this specific inclination where others had eventually fallen away.

Anzu was used to waking up to find her father just getting in from his morning run, or on occasions where she was able to sleep a little later, in the kitchen making breakfast. It was a rare occurrence for her to be awake before he was.

Which was why finding her casually seated in his favorite armchair at 5 o'clock in the morning, innocently perusing the morning paper that had arrived mere minutes ago, gave Mr. Mazaki quite a start. He ran a hand through sleep disheveled black hair, and tapping his chin, studied her with a mixture of confusion and concern.

"Don't tell me you're having a secret affair with the paper boy."

Despite his serious demeanor, life with a playfully witty wife had drawn Heiji's own sense of humor out of him. Together, they enjoyed nothing more than good-naturedly teasing their teenaged daughter, and Anzu had grown accustomed to her father's dry remarks paired with an unflinchingly deadpan countenance.

She barely glanced up from the society page she was looking over, "I'm having his love child."

"I see," he dropped gracefully into Eri's rocking chair and pretended to seriously digest the information. "Well considering the legends of his father's homeliness spread clear across the neighborhood, we can only hope that nature is kind to the poor bastard and he inherits his mother's famously beautiful features."

"That," Anzu finally lowered the paper, "Is a gross and unfair exaggeration."

"Which part? Your beauty or our paper boy resembling a fairytale ogre?"

She almost smiled before, remembering the terms she was currently on with her parents, rolled her eyes instead.

"So," Heiji studied his daughter seriously, "Set your alarm clock wrong?"

She studied him with equal seriousness, "You shaved your mustache."

"Your mother was right to advise against excessive facial hair. Wood chips kept getting stuck in it." He swung the conversation back on track, "Expecting an early morning caller?"

"Just the father of my child and his paper cart. Don't carpenters, as a general rule, wear their wood chips with pride?"

"Not this carpenter. Lose a bet?"

"Not lately."

Heiji pressed forward, "Had a sudden, uncontrollable desire to see the sunrise?"

"No."

"Taking up early morning jogging?"

With the type of overly dramatic sigh only a teenaged girl infinitely annoyed with her dad can expel, Anzu folded up the paper and set it aside.

"What is it about parents that make them demand explanations for even the most innocent behavior?"

Her father smiled, "We don't perceive _any _behavior to be innocent. Particularly when it involves teenagers who have no prior obligations that would require their waking at what they once dubbed an 'indecent hour,' wide awake at 5am."

"Yeah?" Anzu demanded, "Well maybe said teenagers are not awake by _choice _but are kept up most the night by the mortifying prospect of facing another day under the watchful, _all-seeing _eye of a maniacal boss their parents were so generous as to secure for them!"

"Hmm," he contemplated the substance of her outburst. "I'm not quite sure I understand what you're getting at, love. Perhaps if you were less subtle..."

"Argh! Can't we be serious for one second in this household?" Anzu glared at her dad. "Man cannot live on sarcasm alone."

"Now this is precisely why it worries parents to see teenagers awake at such hours," he calmly replied, "Lack of sleep combined with those who are not generally morning people makes for cranky outbursts and overall surliness."

"My surliness has little to do with sleep deprivation, and everything to do with unreasonable parents and stupidly smug bosses." She stood up with an indignant air, "Now if you're quite finished tormenting me, I have to go mentally prepare for a day of psychological warfare."

"Your mother says you're a drama queen," Heiji couldn't repress a full-fledged grin, "But if that's truly the case, _I _have seen nothing of it."

"This is me leaving," she unnecessarily declared as she started in the direction of the hall.

"Hang on. There actually _was_ something else I needed since you've mentioned it."

"_What_?"

"Nothing really," Mr. Mazaki said casually, "Just another explanation for some _innocent _behavior of yours."

"Which is?"

"I was cleaning out the fire pit last night…"

Anzu froze, "And?"

"Well _I _personally see nothing wrong with using a polyester miniskirt for kindling," he said, "But your mother seemed to think it was a little strange."

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," she insisted, stalking out of the room.

But her blush gave her away.

_…………………………_

"What are we doing today Moki-bear?"

Three hours after her early morning mortification minute with daddy dearest, a less irritable Anzu cheerfully addressed her charge as she entered his room.

"Moki-bear?" While his tone was more curious than annoyed, the youngest Kaiba's expression betrayed his dislike of the spontaneous nickname.

"Not a fan of the whole 'animal-related names' thing I see," she observed. "Well I guess that rules out Monkey-boy and Mackerel."

Mokuba cringed briefly in horror, before understanding dawned on him and he smiled shyly, "You're joking."

"I never joke," she winked, "So no nicknames of animal origins, that does narrow it down. Hmm… Oh I know! How about Mac-n-cheese?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"Right… no food-related names either, gotcha." She grinned at the boy while pulling up a chair next to the desk he was seated at. "What's happening here?"

Spread out before them was a collection of illustrations of impressive skill and wonderful detail for having been drawn by an eight-year-old. They mostly depicted two creatively costumed superheroes battling villainous foes of various shapes and sizes. Anzu smiled at the two heroes' features as both had thick brown hair and vivid blue eyes, though the boy of the pair was given much darker eyes than the smiling girl.

"Just drawing some pictures," Mokuba shrugged, "It's no big deal."

"Ah, now _you're_ joking," Anzu studied his work appreciatively, "These are fantastic."

The boy blushed. "You think so?"

"Hey keep this up and you can forget about food or animal names, I'll just call you Michelangelo."

Mokuba grew even redder, "Really?"

"Absolutely," she nodded emphatically, "I know skill when I see it kiddo, and this? Talent with a capital 'T.' Maybe you'll draw something for me sometime, if I'm lucky?"

"Sure!" he beamed up at her, "I'll draw you a picture right now, if you'll draw me one."

"Well I don't know about that," Anzu glanced nervously at his artwork. "I mean, I already confessed yesterday that I can't draw stick people, and when in direct comparison with such artistic genius… I just might develop a complex."

"Don't feel bad," Mokuba earnestly patted her shoulder. "Let's see, you also told me yesterday that you have a lousy singing voice, no cooking skills to speak of, can't grasp math or chemistry, and you say you talk way too much."

"Well yeah, but I didn't think such information would be used in a failing attempt to make me feel better," her shoulders slumped, "And this is my complex in the first stages of development."

"Hey, I wasn't finished," he pressed on. "What about how you said that you're an excellent public speaker, and a terrific dancer. What about your infal… infuri… in…"

"Infamous," his sitter supplied.

"Right. _Infamous _social skills, and all the great advice your friends are always happy to get from you?"

"I guess," she hid her smile.

"_Plus_you're really pretty, and smart, and nice," Mokuba informed her, "In case you didn't know that too."

"Well thank you sweetie," Anzu playfully pinched his cheek, "You're pretty cute and clever yourself."

"Thanks." Mokuba blushed for what felt like the billionth time that day, and pushed a blank sheet of white paper towards her, "Now will you draw something?"

"I will draw to the best of my ability," she assured him.

Then, selecting a bright orange pencil crayon drew a reasonably straight line down the center of the page, "There."

Mokuba glanced at it skeptically, "It's a line."

"Ah, to the untrained eye, it is but an ordinary line but to a true artist it becomes so much more."

"Uh… okay," he squinted at the page, "So, um, what is it?"

"Ever hear of a political spectrum?" Anzu asked, knowing full well what his answer would be.

"No."

"Well basically it's a scale, or you know, _line_ representing where various groups with their various ideologies stand in regards to various issues."

"Okay…"

She tapped one side of the paper, "You see, over here on the left side of the line is where those with more liberal ideas would be, and here on the right side, the more conservative folks hang out. And the farther to the left or right, the more liberal or conservative respectively you are."

Mokuba wrinkled his forehead. "I see."

"You'll learn all this in school a couple years down the road, and you'll be ahead of the game because of it," Anzu informed him. Then she grinned, "You see what a good nanny I am? I teach you useful things!"

"So you drew me a political spectrum so you could… educate me? In the Summertime?"

"When you put it that way, it does sound rather cruel," Anzu playfully admitted, "But fear not! This particular spectrum is not political, but rather a crude representation of the differences between… Oh I don't know say, your brother and myself which make us both such unique individuals."

"Which is your 'grown-up' way of telling me what I already know," Mokuba declared, "That you and my brother don't get along very well."

Anzu blanched, "Now what makes you say that?"

"Just because I'm a kid, doesn't mean I'm blind or deaf," Mokuba told her. He studied the 'spectrum' on the page, "So if you're all the way on one side, and he's all the way on the other…"

"That's right," Anzu said, "We are on opposite sides of the spectrum, and thus cannot relate."

She added a dot to each end of the line; one to represent herself, and the other to represent Kaiba.

"Hmm," Mokuba took the page from her to add his own additions before handing it back.

He had drawn another smaller line precisely through the middle of the first.

"What's this?"

"It's where you two _will_ relate," the boy explained, "I don't see a spectrum, I see a road. With two people traveling from different directions."

"Okay, and this intersecting line?"

"That's where you guys meet in the middle," Mokuba grinned up at her. "That's where you become friends."

_………………………………_

"He thinks the two of us are destined to be friends," Anzu told Kaiba later that day in his car, "Imagine that."

"I'd rather not," he snidely told her, narrowing his navy eyes when she scrunched up her face to mimic his rude response.

"Yeah well I'm sorry you find the idea so distasteful," she tossed her hair in a manner which would have had greater effect had it not been restricted by a bright pink ponytail. "Although, I can't say my reaction was any different than yours, I at least had the courtesy to keep my disgust to myself."

"I have no use for courtesy," Seto explained.

Which was true. Kaiba was used to being on the receiving end of unfaltering politeness from those around him, but then it came with being on the top of the food chain. That didn't mean he appreciated it; in fact he rather despised it. If it were delivered with even a modicum of sincerity, he might feel different, but such as it was, every pretense was just another game people played.

But while he was especially skilled at said games, Seto didn't enjoy others trying to play with him. It was insulting. He was well aware that very few people actually liked him, but they all acted like they did. Was he supposed to respect these blatant phonies? No, give him somebody who had no qualms about telling him to his face that they couldn't stand him, and he might be forced to take notice.

Speaking of which…

"_You?_ No use for common courtesy? Wow, I never would have guessed," her frequent sarcasm… didn't quite annoy him as much as one would think. "You sure hide it well."

"So why exactly did Mokuba assume we'd ever want to be _friends?_" he said the last word as though it left a vile taste in his mouth.

"I don't know, Kaiba, why don't you ask him?"

"I asked you."

"Well I'm not a mind-reader okay?" She turned to face him with a rather put-out expression, "God, who cares, anyway? So the kid wants two people he likes and admires to get along, big deal."

He stopped at a red light, and met her gaze. She was clearly irritated, and trying to repress her obvious discomfort at being confined to a car with him. Kaiba noticed that she didn't look as sexy today as she had the day before. She was more… cute with her huge blue eyes and flushed cheeks, hair pulled back in a stubby little ponytail, and a fluttery pale blue top combined with white peddle pushers and strappy sandals.

Of course, she was no doubt wearing underwear as juvenile as the pair she'd unwittingly shown him the day before. He couldn't imagine the type of innocent, bubbly, overly-cheerful girl who'd don bright yellow panties with daisies… well actually yeah. He was looking at just that type of girl and finding himself regarding her with something besides the usual unmitigated disdain. Which was really frustrating.

He decided he needed to punish her for causing such thoughts, being so appealing.

"You don't think before you speak," Kaiba replied deliberately.

"So?" She turned back to face the road at the same time the light turned green. "What's your point?"

"It's pathetic," he said, while casually stepping on the gas. "It indicates ill-breeding, lack of thought, weakness."

Anzu snorted in a fashion that was particularly unladylike, and had no doubt been picked up from her idiot dog-faced friend.

"You," she said, "Are ridiculous. Did you know that?"

In fact, he did _not _know that. Kaiba had been called a lot of things in his day; cold, cruel, hard, bastard, megalomaniac, egotistical, ruthless, to name just a few and barring the rather extreme 'megalomaniac', he didn't deny any of them. But this was the first time he'd ever been accused of being something as pitiful as _ridiculous_. He was actually offended, though he didn't express it.

Instead he kept the perpetual sneer on his face, and turned a corner. "Pin-pointing one of your many failings makes me ridiculous?"

"Yes! You take such pains to be as arrogant, unfeeling, and… just _evil _as you can possibly be in any given situation," she moved her hands around a lot while she made her point, "You're not even a real person, you're like a caricature, a cartoon. The big, evil, villain with the cape and diabolical plans that foil the hero at every turn. God! All you need now is an evil laugh, which I'm sure you're saving for a moment where the effect will be the most chilling."

This absurd description of himself was a huge blow to Seto's ego, not because she compared him to a cartoon villain, but because doing so revealed how little she thought of him. He didn't care that she didn't like him, or that she found him evil, but the fact that she did not take him seriously wounded his pride and in turn made him angry.

"You," he spat "Are far too uninformed, ignorant, and utterly melodramatic to form a coherent or accurate opinion of anybody, let alone myself. It's no small wonder you befriend such morons; you're too pathetically ill-advised to see how stupid they really are."

"Oh get over yourself," she tossed back. "You're just trying to belittle me so my opinion doesn't hold any gravity. I'm _not _stupid, and you very well know that. And _why_ does everybody say I'm melodramatic? I'm _not! _I'm… expressive. I'm a dancer, a performer, and by definition we as artists are allowed to have… flair."

"Right," Seto barked, disgruntled by her ability to hold her own in an argument. "I'm sure _flair _by definition means 'gross exaggeration that pushes the boundaries of all that falls into the realm of common sense and realism to the extreme.' You've only just further proven your own ignorance."

"Let me tell you what _jackass _by definition means," she was starting to raise her voice now.

"No need," he assured her, "I've seen your friends."

"I… you…Augh!" She buried her face in her hands.

Seto smirked at her lack of a comeback, glad to have won that round. He really was so much better at this sort of thing.

"Stop smirking," Mazaki commanded irritably.

She was glaring at him in a way that made her look especially attractive, eyes dark and icy, cheeks flushed a pretty pink. There could be no doubt to any casual observer that she absolutely hated him, and the thought cheered him. At least she was taking him seriously now.

"And button up your damned shirt," she continued with aggravation, "Who do you think you are, anyway, some kind of stud?"

Seto narrowed his eyes, and pulled over in front of her house, grateful for the opportunity to really study her. She was looking at his chest with a mixture of anger and… what was this? Interesting. He'd unbuttoned his shirt earlier in response to the heat with no intention of making himself desirable but apparently it had just that effect. And on this infuriating girl, no less. Having the upper-hand was an excellent position to be in.

He laughed mockingly at her expense, "You clearly think I am."

"What?" Now her cheeks were crimson, "That is completely insane and not even remotely true. You're delusional."

"And you," he said with arrogant amusement, "Are blushing."

"If my face is red it's because I'm angry," she insisted, "And disgusted by your conceit."

"Mazaki," he smirked, "You forget how transparent you really are."

"Oh just shut up, you maniacal freak," she finally noticed they were in front of her house and hurriedly reached for the door. "I'm glad we had this opportunity to have a 3 second conversation about Mokuba. What a fantastic idea this whole driving me home thing was, it's working very well."

"Good night, Mazaki."

"I believe that was a courtesy you previously claimed to have no use for," she accused.

"Very well." She had a point. "Get the hell out of my car, and try not to flash me this time."

"Ack!" She was practically purple at this point, "I hate you!"

He said nothing, but watched calmly as she scrambled out of his vehicle as fast as she could manage. But instead of speeding away the second she slammed the door, he waited for her to stalk into her house before leaving.

Seto bit his lip pensively as he headed home. Now what in the hell was _that_ all about?

_……………………………_

"Anzu, sweetheart!" Eri held up the charred remains of her daughter's miniskirt as the irritable teenager stormed into the house, "What did Calvin Klein ever do to you?"

"Get that cursed material away from me."

"Well I see you're adjusting nicely to your new job."

"Could you just give it a rest?" Anzu glared at her mother.

She sighed, "Okay dear. I'm finished. What's wrong?"

"Aside from the obvious?"

"Yes."

"Just… Diabolical super-villains are _not _supposed to be _hot_!"

"Now, now darling," Eri grinned, "Everybody should be hot if they possibly can be."

"I concur," Heiji said as he walked by.

"Why am I living in the only household on the planet in which the parents' united front is more about tormenting their child than disciplining her?" their daughter demanded. "Why?"

"It was all in the manual," Mrs. Mazaki serenely explained.

"How to torture your child through incessant teasing?" Anzu shook her fist towards the ground as though addressing the underworld, "_You _did this."

Her parents couldn't contain their laughter, even as they took turns kissing her forehead.

"What would we do, Heiji, without our little drama queen?"

"_I am NOT a drama queen!_"

_……………………………_

_Author's note: Ah, but she totally is. See you all next chapter!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's note: Thanks for the feedback folks – you're all so generous! I'm glad most of you enjoy this since I'm having an insane amount of fun writing it. Re: Anzu's parents, the apparent stars of this particular fic. Since you all seem to love them so much, I suppose it's time I come clean. I wish I could tell you guys and gals that they were my very own brainchild, but the truth is… ehehe. They're my parents. Yes, knowing what I know about Anzu's real folks (zippo), I had to draw on my own experience to establish her home life._

_It may be amusing to read about, but when your mom was a stand-up comic in College and your dad was the class clown, it makes for a pretty interesting childhood. In fact, my twin brother and I blame our parents for our own sarcastic/bordering-on-wacky dispositions. We had both nature and nurture working against us from the very beginning – a hopeless situation. (Mom, Dad, if you ever stumble across this… I love you both very much and bear no ill-will) _

_So yeah, blame (or thank) my 'rents for the merciless teasing Anzu endures from her own folks - they've made it their life's mission to not take life seriously. (And to embarrass/tease/crack up their kids in the process.) _

_………………………_

**Chapter 4**

"So I was thinking," Anzu began conversationally, as she stepped into Kaiba's Porsche, "That I would take Mokuba to the zoo tomorrow."

She kept her tone neutral, determined that _today _there would be no arguing, no insults, and perhaps most importantly, no further mortification. They would discuss Mokuba, anything pertaining to her job/scheduling, and possibly the weather if worse came to worse.

There would be no discussion of Kaiba's '_Lex__ Luthor_' complex, his wretched manners, or the fact that he had the most perfect set of pectoral muscles she'd ever seen outside of movies and magazines. They would not talk about her big mouth, colorful underwear, or so-called 'obvious' crush on her _way _delusional boss who clearly mistook burning hatred for lust.

Today would be, for the first time since this little arrangement began, all about professional detachment and _not _making a complete ass out of herself.

"Hmm," Kaiba replied, "This is something he said he wanted to do?"

"Well not in so many words," Anzu admitted, "But he has so many wildlife books in his room, and today he was talking about how excited he was that time he went with you to Africa on business and saw all these giraffes. I thought it would be fun."

"You may go," he said taking her by complete surprise as she'd been prepared for another fight. Perhaps he'd come up with a similar resolution to hers.

"I'll arrange transportation," he continued without taking his eyes off the road, "A bodyguard will accompany you, and make sure you have the list I gave you in case of any emergencies."

"What list?"

That tore his gaze from the road, and his eyes darted over to meet hers with an icy glare.

"Kidding," she said lightly, pulling the laminated sheet he'd given her on her first day from a bright orange handbag.

It contained all the numbers he could be reached at during the day, including his private cell phone. It was a list he'd told her very few people had access to, and she'd be wise to keep a close eye on it. Aside from that, she was _only _to contact him if something came up with Mokuba that she couldn't handle, or in the event of an emergency. As if she'd even _want_ to call him, but if there was anything she had learned from her too-long acquaintance with Kaiba, it was that egomaniacs walked around with the constant supposition that people were dying to be near them.

His obsession with the little plastic-encased piece of paper was enough motivation for her to tease him with it. Although now that she thought about it, probably not the best way to go about dodging bullets.

_Oops._

"You lose," he snappily informed her.

_Lose? _Christ, was everything a stupid competition to him? Now he was inventing games for them in his head without bothering to share the rules with her? And he scoffed at her yesterday when she called him ridiculous! Anzu was almost afraid to ask, but had long since realized that she had little restraint when it came to the obnoxious CEO,

"Excuse me, but what the hell are you talking about?"

"Your inability to contain yourself," he coolly informed her as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We both decided to be completely professional today, but you couldn't get past a minute without making a _ridiculous _joke."

"That is…" _Pretty accurate actually_, she admitted silently to herself. "Just stupid. What makes you think I had any intention of acting differently today?"

He chuckled in that condescending, mocking way she'd come to loathe so passionately in the past few days, and tossed her his signature smirk (which was incidentally a close second to the laugh in terms of irritation.)

"Because you're so obvious, Mazaki," Kaiba clearly relished each opportunity to provoke her as his tone was almost… gleeful. "You're expressions and eyes betray you, and if that weren't enough, you blab to anyone who will listen everything else. It amuses me."

Apparently he'd discarded all pretenses of civility when she'd made her ill-advised joke.

_I just had to ask, _Anzu thought to herself, suitably insulted. Why did she have to engage this jerk in verbal warfare? Now that she'd opened the can of worms, she'd be damned if she let him win again. It was a sickness, really.

"Well my 'what you see is what you get' mentality might tickle your twisted little funny bone," she said haughtily, "But for those of us who _don't _live according to the _Madman's Guide to Life_, it's actually a quality that's generally admired."

"Hence the degeneracy of mankind's collective intellect," he disparagingly remarked, "The masses are getting increasingly soft-witted, lazy, and insipid. It's disgusting, but it does allow those of us who _aren't _completely useless to get what we deserve at their expense."

Anzu gaped at him, "Did it hurt?"

"_What?_"

"When your soul was sucked out of your body by a supernatural-vacuum wielding, corporate demon," she clarified, "Did it hurt?"

"Only about as much as it probably injured your frazzled little brain to come up with that analogy."

His smirk shifted to one she hadn't had the privilege of seeing before. His features softened, and his lips quirked mysteriously as though he was sharing some sort of inside joke with himself. It made him look unfairly sexy, and was his mouth always so… kissable?

… Which was such an insane thought to be entertaining at this particular moment, it wasn't funny. Wasn't she supposed to be appalled by his certifiable superiority complex? Sure, the guy was a babe, but he needed help!

_Hell, a little counseling wouldn't hurt me at this point either. _

Because to be slightly, minutely, just barely attracted to a guy who'd just effectively proved what a nut-bar he really was... it was sheer lunacy. Honestly, the terminal cynicism! The negativity towards mankind! The schadenfreude! And perhaps most grating, the constant need for one-upmanship he possessed which was his very own brand of immaturity if she thought about it. Nothing like the type she was used to with her friends' raging hormones. She couldn't fix this problem with a cuff to the back of his head.

"You may not act much like a normal teenager," Anzu observed, "But you're pretty evenly matched with my good friend Jounouchi as far as maturity goes."

His jaw clenched, his hands tightened on the steering wheel, he had really nice veins… she was really losing it. _Nice veins?_

"That is an absurd fabrication," Kaiba was clearly angered by the comparison.

"Well forgive my blaspheme," she said caustically, "But I beg to differ."

"If anybody is lacking in the maturity department here, it's _you,_" he accused, "And until you learn to keep your ill-timed, infantile, unfunny wisecracks to yourself, I don't see much improvement in your future either."

_Unfunny? _Now that was just a blatant lie if she ever heard one, Anzu thought she was _plenty _funny. But he was also right; she _had _breached their silent contract of professionalism first.

Besides, what about no arguing/making a complete ass out of herself? It wasn't too late to prevent the latter, although continued verbal sparring would undoubtedly lead her in that direction considering her propensity to… over-exaggerate. (And Kaiba's propensity to mock it so well.)

And what of cute little Mokuba who so earnestly wanted his brother and her to be friends? Granted, that was an impossible scenario, the least she could do for the young boy was try to be civil. And no, she hadn't tried much before, no matter what she told herself, she did her fair share of provoking.

_Alright, _she decided begrudgingly, _I'll just end this right now…_

The younger Kaiba's sweet smile in mind, she turned to the older,

"Okay, you have a point."

He couldn't hide his surprise as his eyebrows retreated into a shaggy curtain of bangs, and he shot her a suspicious look out of the corner of his eye.

"I mean, yeah. I shouldn't have made that stupid little comment, I just couldn't help myself since you were getting all mother hen and–," Wrong choice of words, Anzu realized as he glared at her,

"Well, not _mother _hen… more like, you know, _big brother _hen… or, um _not_, considering 'hen' by definition would mean 'female' (I know 'cause my dad grew up on a farm) and _you, _you are definitely male. I mean, believe me, you're about as _male _as they come which is actually… completely besides the point." Oh god, she was babbling, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I had to compare you to an animal, I'd say you're more like a… I don't know, a _wolf _or something. I know some people who would say snake, but I'm not one of them because I think you're too-,"

"_Mazaki,_" Seto interrupted her irritably.

Anzu was sheepish, "Yes?"

"I have neither the time nor patience for your incoherent blathering. If you need to sort out your convoluted thoughts, which I know those of inferior intelligence often do, work it out without talking. _Moron_!" He sighed with annoyance, "Now what the hell is your stupid, invalid, formulated-in-a-barn point, you slack-jawed yokel?"

He learned her dad was raised on a farm, and now she was a hillbilly? Was she actually just about to apologize to this idiot?

"Stop the car," she commanded in a quiet, but firm tone.

He ignored her, and with a despicably smug grin, kept driving.

"I said _stop the goddamned car_!" she shouted, desperate to get out of the vehicle before she bashed his stupid, pretty face into the steering wheel.

He started at the sudden noise, and albeit while aiming a particularly poisonous stare in her direction, actually deigned to oblige. He pulled over on the side of the road.

"What the hell is the matter with you?"

"_Me?_" Anzu cried, "What's the matter with _me_? _You_ are the one with a problem, and _I_ will not spend one more second in this claustrophobic little metal cage of abject _torment _with such a sick individual! Get some therapy!"

Then, because her mortification quota of the day hadn't quite been reached, Anzu found that she was unable to make the quick, hostile exit such a speech deserved; her seatbelt was stuck.

"Aw crap," she muttered, painfully aware of the teenaged businessman's steely blue gaze.

This had to be some kind of sick cosmic joke, she decided as she struggled in vain to free herself. The gods were gleefully looking down at her, trapped in an expensive vehicle which should not be presenting such a 'junk-bucket' type of problem considering it was brand new. If she was in Jou's old pickup? Yeah it could – and probably would – happen. Her dad's new Dodge truck? A possibility. Her mother's Accord? Sure why not?

But Kaiba Seto's beautiful, perfectly running, sleek, sexy Porsche convertible? Only if the deities were conspiring against her.

_This is not happening!_

A low, scornful snicker drifted over from the driver's side, and Anzu felt her face heat up, partially from embarrassment, and partially from anger.

"Your car sucks!" she snapped crankily.

"No," he calmly replied, "You just broke my seatbelt."

"I did not!" she indignantly declared. Then after a few seconds more of fighting with the stubborn belt, "Um, Kaiba?"

"Hmm?"

Anzu pushed a few stray hairs away from her red face, collected herself, swallowed her pride and let out a long breath, "Could I get a little help here, please?"

He revealed his perfectly straight white teeth in a full fledged conceited grin, and oh lordy he was beautiful. Then of course, he ruined the effect by speaking,

"Well, well, well. This is interesting." He was clearly in diabolical super-villain mode again.

"_No,_" she bit out, "It is _not_ interesting. It's awkward and stupid, and why the hell does life have to work so a righteously angry speech is _not _followed by a perfect exit, but rather a situation contrived in hell! Now are you going to help me, or do I have to cut through this seatbelt with my keychain scissors?"

Kaiba sighed with an air of distinct boredom, and undid his own seatbelt with enviable ease. Then without further warning, he was on her side of the vehicle, leaning oh-so-close as he investigated the mechanics of the insolent belt.

"You know," his surprisingly silky hair fell forward to brush her bare shoulder while he spoke, "I should fire you for your insane behavior."

"Hmm?" She could feel his breath on her arm, and what _was _that enticing cologne? "I mean, um, that wouldn't be as much a punishment as you might think."

"Yes, I vaguely recall you mentioning something about my unpleasant disposition."

_Wait a minute. Was that a…joke?_

"I'm rubbing off on you," she smiled wryly.

Seto scoffed, "Don't be foolish."

"A _slack-jawed yokel _wouldn't really be anything else, would she?" Her cheeks flushed as she remembered the insult, and because his hand was brushing her thigh while he worked on getting her free.

"Mm, and a soulless madman would probably choke you to death with this seatbelt instead of trying to get you out of it."

Anzu hated it when somebody she was intent on hating made a good point.

"Touché." She bit her lip, watching navy blue eyes study her unwitting captor as though it was some sort of puzzle. "So will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Fire me?" As much as she couldn't stand his brother, she would really miss Mokuba if he actually went through with it. Not to mention her prestigious dance academy.

"No," he reluctantly admitted.

She tried not to show her relief, "Oh?"

"It's not your job to be civil to me," he stiffly explained, "An expected, although unwritten rule in any type of workplace, but not absolutely necessary. I only hired you to look after Mokuba and you've been doing a satisfactory job so far."

"Satisfactory?" Anzu smiled faintly, "I suppose in '_Kaiba__-speak_' that means excellent."

"I mean what I say," the seatbelt suddenly popped open with a satisfying click, and he immediately withdrew from her. "You can get out now."

"Right. Um… you know, thanks."

"Hmm."

"O-_kay_! Well, I'll uh, see you tomorrow," she scrambled out of her seat, opened the door, stepped outside, slammed it shut… and immediately opened it again.

Kaiba studied her with an unreadable expression, and cool blue eyes, "Your purse?"

"Yeah," at this rate her face would be permanently red, she decided snatching her bag off the rubber floor-mat.

He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'dumbass,' to which Anzu responded by slamming the car door harder than necessary and flouncing away like a snotty cheerleader.

She tried to remain angry on the walk home, but somehow the thought of his hands made her smile.

_So this is what going stark-raving mad feels like._

_………………………_

"So then I was like, 'Get some therapy freak-show!' and left just like that," Anzu told her friends later that evening, "I'm sure he would have had some Kaiba-esque scathing comeback if I'd stuck around long enough but after all the abuse I'd already endured, I was _so _out of there."

Since Jou, Honda, and Yugi showed up to hang out that night, Anzu had wasted no time spilling her guts, desperately in need of a venting session. Naturally, her retelling gave a slightly altered version of events to her pals, as to tell the whole truth was of course impossible. After all, if she wanted to be laughed at, she always had Kaiba (and her parents) she needed sympathy from her comrades.

She felt better already, just being around all the people who knew her best, in such comfortable surroundings. They were hanging out in her family room, Jou stretched out on the sofa still wearing the bright green uniform shirt from the hardware store he worked at. Yugi, taking up very little space as always with his diminutive stature perched at the edge of the couch on the small space Jou wasn't hogging with his lanky frame. Honda sat comfortably on Mr. Mazaki's favorite recliner, casually stylish as usual with his fitted jacket and well-cut jeans.

Anzu soaked up their presence, seated cross-legged on her mother's armchair, in the ballet leotard she'd been practicing in before her pals arrived, and the sweats she pulled on when they got there.

"It's always better to walk away from a fight when it gets that intense," Yugi told her, nodding with approval. "Although, you didn't really have to call him a freak-show did you?"

"Yugi makes an excellent point," Jou chimed in, "I personally would have gone with _Minion of Satan_."

"Nah," Honda had to add his two cents, "Since she'd just told him to get help, she couldn't follow it with something like that, it doesn't gel. _Deranged sicko _might have packed a bit more punch, but otherwise, good choice, Anzu."

Yugi shook his head with a faint smile, "That's not what I meant."

"Well I sure as hell did," Anzu exclaimed, "Because he _is _a weirdo, no doubt about it. I mean, you should hear the stuff that comes out of that pretty little mouth of his, the boy's not right."

Silence.

_Huh? _She looked up to find her friends staring back at her with open-mouthed disbelief. "What?"

"His _pretty little mouth_?" Honda collected his wits first, "_Kaiba's _mouth? Does this mean what I think it means?"

Damnit, she really _didn't _think before she spoke as her boss was so fond of reminding her. She actually just said that out loud? Oh this would be the end of her with this particular circle of friends, they'd never let her live it down. But then, so what? It wasn't as though she could help the fact that Kaiba was such a stone cold fox.

No, but she _could _help opening up her own decidedly _big, fat _mouth about it. It was just her comfort level with these people was high enough to cause her to drop her guard more than she normally would. She never usually _had _to be careful around them. She'd have to rethink that now that she was constantly spending time with a real-life super-villain. That, and she'd now have to do a little damage control.

"Well that depends," Anzu said in a tone of voice that was as relaxed as she could get it, "On what you think it means."

Jou narrowed his eyes, "It means you have a _crush_ on that creep."

He shuddered comically as if the very thought made him want to hide under his bed, while Yugi studied her curiously with wide violet eyes, and Honda perched so far at the edge of his recliner he was about an inch away from falling off.

Anzu scoffed, "Don't be stupid, Jou. I can't stand the jerk."

"Yeah, but you just said that-,"

"He has a great mouth, yeah I know, so what?" She ran a casual hand through her bangs, deducing that a trim would probably be a good idea soon, "I won't deny that the guy has good genes, I mean I have eyes. But come on, he's _evil _remember? The thought of kissing those pretty lips makes my stomach turn, he probably has spider breath."

Yugi leaned back in his seat, seemingly relieved, "I don't think he eats spiders, Anzu."

"Spiders, bats, rat tails, the works I'm sure," Jou wrinkled his nose with disgust.

"Greasy grimy gopher guts, and French-fried eyeballs," Honda recited in a sing-song tone.

"Ack! Stop," Anzu plugged her ears, "I'm having horrible flashbacks to the second grade."

"Oh, would that be the time you wouldn't stop singing that song so your dad served you a meal he claimed was exactly that?" Yugi was nice enough to try to hide his amusement at the recollection.

"Oh god, he wore a chef's hat and everything," Anzu seized the opportunity to ease off the subject of her good-looking boss, "He was all, 'Well you were raving about it so much, I took the hint. Dig in!' My parents are so lame."

The three guys exchanged a look she was used to seeing when she whined about her folks, the 'this-girl-is-nuts' look. Her boys absolutely _adored _her parents, which was really no huge surprise considering their wit did charm and delight those it wasn't normally aimed at. But even when her mom would good-naturedly tease Yugi about his height, or her dad would get on Honda's case about his haircut, or Jou and his weirdness they seemed to actually like it.

Okay, she wouldn't deny her parents were pretty decent (when they weren't being utterly annoying), and it was true she did have the best familial situation out of all of them. Yugi didn't even have parents, though his grandfather was super-sweet and delightfully wacky. Still, it was nice for the diminutive teenager to come over and soak up Eri's maternal qualities and Heiji's fatherly presence. And Anzu was glad – her friend was far too sweet to go through life without a little affectionate mothering now and then.

Honda's family was just your basic suburban normal in appearance – his dad did some well-paying job involving computers that none of them understood, and his mother was cute (in Anzu's opinion) and matronly in her housewife role. But his father was very controlling, critical, and always on his son's case which caused a lot of arguing in their household.

But Jou had the worst deal of them all, he didn't see his mother or his sister for that matter, very often. They lived clear across the country, and Jou was stuck living with a father that really didn't care for the job. He was a loud, obnoxious alcoholic who ignored his son when he was sober, and shouted at him when he was drunk. Plus, on the few occasions Anzu had visited their apartment, he was always hitting on her if he was around.

As much as her friends loved her parents, they in turn loved her friends; Jou, Yugi, and Honda were their "honorary sons" and always welcome in their home. But then, the Mazakis were pretty accepting of people, which actually made Anzu wonder. What would they think of Kaiba?

Which then made her wonder why she should even _care_.

"If my dad did that to me, I don't think I would be traumatized," Honda decided after a moment's contemplation interrupting her disturbing train of thought, "It seems like a fun joke."

"Yeah," Jou agreed, "What did he actually serve you anyway?"

"Oh, chocolate fudge cake with candy eyeballs," she rolled her eyes, "Not that I even ate it anyway, assuming it was some heinous concoction. But mom sure chowed down."

"Hey now, there will be no discussion of my eating habits while I still run this household," Mrs. Mazaki suddenly appeared in the family room. She was still wearing her business suit from being in court all day, but she'd taken the jacket off, and her hair was out of its upsweep. She smiled mysteriously, "A lady has to have _some _secrets you know."

"I'll say," Honda grinned dashingly, "Because if other women found out you regularly eat chocolate fudge cake and still look like _that, _there will be rioting in the streets."

Anzu rolled her eyes. Honda, charmer that he was, always felt the need to good-naturedly flirt with her mother much to her annoyance.

"Ooh, now we _have _to tell," Eri easily changed her tune, "It's been getting rather dull around here."

"Mom, please." Her daughter was not amused, "Anyway, what are you doing? Tell me you have better things to do than eavesdrop on a bunch of teenagers."

"I'm afraid I don't," she shook her head, "Well except for reading teenagers' diaries of course. You father and I take turns passing yours around at work."

Jou grinned evilly.

"Dear Diary," he said in a ridiculously over-the-top falsetto, "My new boss is _so _dreamy, he has the hottest lips I've ever seen and-,"

"I do not sound like that," Anzu interrupted him irritably, "And I told you, I _don't _have a crush on him."

"Ah, so you claim. But statements such as 'his pretty little mouth' say otherwise," he snickered, "Literally."

Anzu darted a horrified look at her mother who was absorbing the information with a decidedly interested expression. _Oh NO!_ The priceless tidbit her so-called friend had just given her mom… was he _crazy_? Didn't he know what her parents could do with such valuable ammunition?

"I'll _kill _you," Anzu leapt from her armchair to tackle Jou's far-too-amused form on the couch, noting gratefully that Yugi slipped away just in time to avoid getting crushed too.

Once she had him pinned, she reached for a cushion and beat him mercilessly on the face with it, "You traitor!"

Jou for his part, couldn't help laughing, even as he reached out to tickle her stomach in retaliation. "Hey," he said between chuckles, "I'm not the one driving around town all the time with ole' _Hotlips_ Kaiba."

"Shut _up!_" she choked out between her own laughter. Damn her ticklishness!

"Pardon me, children," Eri's mellow voice interrupted their fight, "But I really must insist you stop this silly little spat."

Jou contritely pulled his hand away from his opponent's stomach while Anzu begrudgingly dropped her cushion.

"Sorry Mrs. Mazaki," Jou offered.

"He started it," her daughter pouted.

"Oh don't be sorry," Eri waved her hand dismissively, "I only meant that you should put it on hold. Anzu's father will be home soon, and I'd hate for him to have to miss this. Feel free to pick up where you left off once he gets here. In fact, I insist on it."

"Ugh," Anzu pulled herself off her battered friend, and stomped back to her seat, "You are _so _not funny."

"Now there's no need to get insulting," her mom said lightly, "Oh, but now I remember why I came in here in the first place."

"Aside from eavesdropping?"

"Actually, I came to play secretary. The phone's for you," Eri informed her, "But now he's been kept waiting much too long, I hope he's still there."

Anzu suddenly had a very bad feeling, "Um, _who _is it?"

"Well good old _Hotlips _himself I'm afraid," she winked at Jou, "You might have to call him back."

"Augh!" Anzu punched the air with her fist and raced into the kitchen, annoyed to find everybody following closely behind. She lunged for the phone, snatching up the receiver with more force than necessary, "Hello?"

An irritable sigh sounded from the other end, "What the hell took you so long?"

"Well good evening to you too, Kaiba," she replied, "How lovely to hear from you."

Honda snorted loudly, and Anzu elbowed him in the ribs, while shooting an icy glare at everybody else. Honestly! Was a little privacy to much to wish for?

"I don't like to be kept waiting," the wealthy teen replied.

"Yeah, and I don't like getting phone calls at home from cartoon villains, but what are you gonna do?"

Eri raised her eyebrow at this, while Yugi looked caught somewhere between disapproval and amusement. Jou and Honda smirked at each other, clearly pleased to be observing this. Anzu continued to glare at them all, didn't these people know a hint when they saw one?

"Hm, I'll just cut straight to the chase," Kaiba said evenly in response, "I won't see you tomorrow morning so I want to discuss the arrangements for your outing with Mokuba."

"Okay."

"I'm having a limo take you there, and two of my security team will be accompanying you," he pressed on, "You are to remain with these escorts at all times, and will separate under no circumstances. Do you understand?"

"No," she sarcastically replied, "What does _separate _mean?"

He ignored her, "I've arranged for your bodyguards to pay for admission and any other expenses you might accumulate throughout the day, so don't bother paying for anything."

"I'll leave my funds at home," she assured him.

"Lastly, you will be home with Mokuba in his original condition before dinner."

Anzu snorted, "In his original condition? Should I bring the receipt along too? What if I already opened the packaging?"

A pause. "When you snort in such an uncouth manner, you really do reflect your barnyard upbringing."

Much to her mortification, Anzu found herself blushing. Which wouldn't have been so bad, given that Kaiba wasn't here to see it, but she still had an audience. An audience that found this new development quite intriguing.

"He'd better not be whispering sweet nothins," Jou said shaking his fist, "To have you blushing like that."

Anzu kicked him, "Be a little louder dummy!"

But Kaiba had heard everything, "Tell your idiot friend that I'd rather drink poison."

_Drink poison? _Hey, that was a little harsh.

"You pervert!" she said loudly for her friends' benefit, "What kind of degenerate asks about a girl's underwear?"

Eri's other eyebrow raised, and Anzu had to blush again. It might have been said to embarrass her boss, but it was still awkward saying things like that in front of her mom.

"You're the one so eager to display them," Kaiba pointed out.

"Just shut up," she was undoubtedly resembling a cooked lobster by now.

"Look, let's just wrap this up," he had a smug tone to his voice, as though he was pleased with her lack of an intelligent comeback. "Mokuba is looking forward to going tomorrow, so he'd better have a good time. Any questions?"

"No. I'll see you tomorrow."

He hung up without saying goodbye, and Anzu pinched the bridge of her nose while she placed the receiver back in the cradle. _Why_ did she have to endure so much embarrassment? She was a good person, damnit! It wasn't fair!

"You know if he has to ask about your underwear," Eri said smoothly, "I think telling him about your _Hello Kitty _panties should silence him on the subject forever."

"_Hello Kitty_ huh?" Honda raised his eyebrow.

Jou snickered, "_Hello _Kitty indeed."

"Now that was just a little too pervy for my motherly ears," Eri announced.

"You're dead Jounouchi!" Anzu cried, fully disgusted, giving chase while he laughingly ran away, "I swear, I'm going to make you eat your filthy little words!"

"Ooh, not yet sweetheart," Mrs. Mazaki called after them, "Just give it another five minutes until your father gets home."

"He can clean up the corpse when he gets here!"

_………………………_


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's notes:__ I've warned you all in my profile that my updates are erratic. Ugh. Now that I'm back in Uni, my schedule has been absolutely hellish. Anyway, I actually got a second to plant my ass in this chair and update! She lives! _

_So thanks all for the love n' patience! You guys are so darn awesome._

_…………………_

**Chapter 5**

Seto hated unexpected surprises. He hated how they came up out of nowhere with no prior warning, tampering with plans, and forcing adjustments. The nagging reminder that there were things in the universe that even he could not anticipate or plan for was an unwelcome variable. Yes, he was excellent at adapting to sudden change, or controlling situations on the brink of slipping out of hand, but it irritated him to have to bother.

He especially hated when such unforeseen occurrences threw him off his schedule.

Take today for example; it was appalling that he, Kaiba Seto, had actually overslept. Granted, his alarm clock had broken, it was still unjustifiable. His body was trained better than that, knew better than to rely on a paltry device to ensure he began his day on time. Normally, he would wake _before _his alarm went off on his own, instinctually jerked from his shallow slumber by his terminal self-sufficiency. The clock was a mere precaution.

It was true that running an hour late wasn't an actual disaster, he'd admit, or even cause for real concern. He did things on his own time for the most part, with the flexibility to come and go as he basically pleased. It was an advantage that came with being the boss, which was not to say that he didn't work hard or had the freedom to slack off.

It was simply that he wasn't governed by the same rigid schedules as most of the people he had working beneath him, and should he need a day off or choose to come in late, there was nobody to consult first for permission.

Which was precisely why he was currently taking his time getting ready, a rather brisk pace as was the norm for the young CEO, but certainly not hasty. He would not allow an anomaly in his routine force him to actually act in a manner that would suggest he was trying to make up for it. The plan had now shifted; he'd come into work an hour later than _he'd _expected to be there, but would not emulate an appearance of urgency that would tip others off to the fact.

He would be casually deliberate to show that clearly he meant to be there at the exact second he arrived, no sooner, no later. He would bear his irritating mistake internally, since how he looked to others was always more important than the truth of what he genuinely was.

To be perceived as somebody who could fall prey to the limits of a human body, was to show weakness. People like Kaiba Seto were not weak, and thus did not ever do anything as careless as _oversleep. _

Oversleeping was something people like… _Mazaki_did. He could just see her, he thought contemptuously while buttoning his dark burgundy shirt, frantically rushing around a room positively spilling over with color. Her clear blue eyes would dart about randomly while she rummaged through a mass of vibrant clothes with one hand, and tried to tame a protesting mass of rich brown hair with the other.

Seto frowned as he reached the last button, annoyed at how attractive the image was. _This_ was the problem with being a genius; his brain was so precise, so affixed on _details _and how they collaborated to produce every seemingly simple situation. It would always shed light on all the complexities, revealing the whole of the picture instead of just a fraction.

In this case, it was Mazaki Anzu in all her sleep disheveled glory, all eyes and limbs, moving around with that inherent _grace _she so inexplicably possessed. It often struck him as odd, how she could be so impulsive and heedless, completely lacking caution, often putting her foot in her mouth, but so… _smooth _at the same time. For all her barely restrained strong emotions, melodrama, and just… _loudness _there was fluidity in her movements, finesse in her frequently acerbic wit, and just a sense of overall style in how she handled herself and her connections with people.

Kaiba narrowed his eyes as he slipped into a perfectly tailored jacket, suspicious of his own fixation on the stupid girl he was unfortunate enough to have to see every day. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he was developing a ridiculous, juvenile… _crush _on her. Of course, that couldn't very well be the case as he could never be prone to such weakness. But still… why did he give her so much thought?

Because she was the enemy, he rationalized, and it was always important to know one's enemy thoroughly. _Although…_ Seto shook his head in an attempt to disperse the unwanted images of just how _thoroughly _he could know her and yanked open his door with more force than necessary.

This was ridiculous, he decided, determined to purge the _insignificant _girl from his mind. There were far more important things to think about and there was no way he'd let himself be distracted by –

"Well good morning, Kaiba!" the voice was bright and _preternaturally _cheerful. "I thought you said we wouldn't see each other today."

He forced the cringe off his face before turning to confront the source of the disturbance. Bright-eyed and perky, Mazaki was obviously ready and enthusiastic to face the day. She smelled incredible too; a fruit medley of grapefruit sunscreen, strawberry shampoo, and peach-flavored gum. Dressed casually in a skin-baring ensemble of jean shorts and a sleeveless top, hair falling carelessly around her face in a way he suspected was calculated on her part she was, in short, effortlessly beautiful. He wanted to kill her.

"I suppose that was just wishful thinking, on my part."

In a move that was becoming trademark, Anzu pushed chestnut bangs out of her rolling blue eyes and tossed her head with something akin to disgust. Although, if he wasn't mistaken (and he so rarely was), she seemed to be adjusting to their mutual dislike for one another and adapting.

He observed this in the way she _didn't _get all flustered and defensive at his rude comment but rather fixed her gaze searchingly on him once it had finished its northern trek. Her pink lip-glossed mouth parted in a suspiciously self-satisfied smirk and she tilted her head, watching him. He was loath to admit her somewhat smug perusal of his person disarmed him, but it did.

"No…" her tone was slow as though she were working out some internal problem. "You wouldn't have said we'd miss each other today unless you planned it that way, and given the fact that you don't exactly strike me as a _last minute _type of guy, I'd say that you, Kaiba Seto… _slept in._"

To say he was aghast at the proclamation would be an understatement. Even so, Kaiba managed to keep his expression neutral while his mind issued the steady command to deny everything, and he sneered at the infuriating nuisance.

"I most certainly did not," he icily informed her.

"Once again, I meet with the Kaiba version of _'As if.' _Defensive much?" she shook her head with amusement which naturally irritated the young CEO to no end. "But I'm still not buying it; I know you too well to suppose you made some last minute change of plans this morning."

_I know you too well. _He didn't know what was more horrifying: The fact that such a statement followed the accurate assessment that he had overslept. Or that her perceiving something that was so innately uncharacteristic to how he was generally viewed indicated she was familiar with him in a more _intimate _manner than he would like. Either way, the exposure of even a mundane and distinctly _human _weakness to her eagle eye was too much to bear.

"If you know me as well as you claim to," Seto replied, "Then you should be fully aware of the fact that I _never_ sleep in."

"I know you well enough to be sure that you'd never admit to it."

He glared down at her smugly beaming countenance and with a curt nod, moved to brush past her, "I don't have time for this."

"Right," she agreed, "On account of oversleeping and all."

"No," he corrected her, unwilling to leave the matter unresolved, "I don't have time for this because I am a busy man with obligations and responsibilities your pathetic teenybopper brain couldn't begin to fathom."

"Well don't let me keep you then." Anzu smiled brilliantly, "You're already late enough as it is."

She knew. It was that simple, there was no getting around it. Any denials or evidence he could provide to the contrary would have no effect on her maddeningly accurate perception of the morning's events. There was no way to convince her that his presence in the household an hour past the time he'd planned to be gone was intentional.

This was a far superior victory to a cutting remark or witty comeback, and she snatched two points right from under his nose. Not only was she privy to a moment of weakness, she was clearly amused by it.

Mazaki celebrated her upper hand, blue eyes glowing with self-congratulation and stepped back expectantly. It was his move. Seto knew that she was waiting for him to deliver a scathing comment to knock her back down a peg or two, but at this phase of the game he had other ideas.

So he said nothing, gaining leverage with a loaded silence. He slid easily into a condescending expression, one that would communicate how far beneath him he considered her. When he was certain his countenance placed her on par with a cockroach – he could tell by the indignant flush on her cheeks – he held her gaze for two seconds more before very deliberately turning to saunter away.

It was the type of insult few could successfully pull off. A wordless appraisal that voiced its contempt and disapproval to precede an arrogant exit. An exit that was clearly not a retreat but an abandonment of something so utterly insignificant it would be a waste of precious time and energy to prolong the encounter.

He was almost satisfied as he gained distance, but she didn't let him get far.

"Nice try Kaiba," she called to his back, "But I'm marking that as a forfeit."

It was a statement he couldn't very well rebuff now that he'd already dismissed her; it would only give validity to her claims. No, he'd save that for later, watching her get flustered and angry in his car while he stole her victory.

_I will crush on her, _he decided, back-tracked, cursed aloud.

_Crush__ her,_ Setoirritably corrected himself, _I will crush her. _

But the damage was done. Anzu had just won another point and she didn't even realize it.

_…………………_

Anzu was in heaven.

Well actually, she was in _Domino Central Zoo _but so long as her escorts were with her, she might as well have been walking on clouds. The bodyguards Seto had sent with Mokuba were monosyllabic, serious-looking gentlemen who'd introduced themselves only as Fujita and Genji.

Anzu had given them her own names. The taller one with soft, full lips and blonde hair she dubbed Hottie McSexgod, the marginally shorter buff guy with a rugged five o'clock shadow and jet black spikes was Studley GreatAss.

She smirked inwardly, watching Studley make the most of his slacks as he walked slightly ahead of her. It was a great day to be alive when smug employers were found to have slept in and finally lost a round of a certain twisted little game. And the eye-candy courtesy of said boss certainly didn't hurt, either.

"I'm going to draw a Siberian tiger as soon as I get home," Mokuba tugged her hand, interrupting her thoughts. "Did you know you can hear a tiger roar over a mile away?"

"Really?" Anzu beamed down at the eager little boy, "That's way cool. Although I have to say I'm just a _little _disappointed."

Grey-purple eyes wide, he looked up with lips ready to part in a smile – he was used to her and thus expecting a joke.

"How come?"

"Well, it's just kind of a shame that my stomach can growl louder than such a respectable predator."

Mokuba crossed his arms and studied his babysitter skeptically.

"You don't believe me?" Anzu feigned indignation, "Just ask Honda. He called me last week from where he was 2 miles away, begging me to eat something to silence the racket."

He began to laugh, "No he did not."

"Oh yes he did!" she poked him playfully, "Please Anzu, he said, for the love of silence eat a sandwich and cease this vile noise pollution."

"No way!"

"Yes way! He was cranky too! It was the third time in a week my hunger had rudely interrupted a nap."

"Stop!" Mokuba tried to reign in his laughter, "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Oops," she ended her tale abruptly and nudged her charge teasingly, "Don't want to be the cause of any accidents. You really need to go, do you?"

He nodded and she latched onto Hottie's arm with a sly grin, "Could you take him please, Fujita? I don't want to trespass on a boy's only zone."

The bodyguard approved of the suggestion and went off with Mokuba, taking Studley with him. Anzu shrugged easily as she was left alone and unprotected. It wasn't as though they'd come along for her benefit anyway; she was sadly invaluable to any prospective kidnapper.

"Hey there's our girl!" A familiar voice suddenly called out behind her, "And not a runt in sight."

"Watch who you're calling runt Jou," she smilingly whirled around to find her gang approaching. "Even if Mokuba _couldn't_ beat your scrawny butt, which he could, he's armed with a pair of beefcakes today who'd gladly destroy you at his command."

"Ooh Anzu's hanging out with beefcakes," Honda smirked suggestively, "Won't Kaiba get jealous?"

"Would you guys shut up about that already? I told you I don't have a crush on that subhuman."

"We know you don't," Yugi assured her.

"Well good," she threw a casual arm around Honda and Yugi, nudging Jounouchi with her knee. "So, what are you guys doing here anyway?"

"Oh you know, Yugi was going on and on about how long it's been since he last got to tease the monkeys," Jou replied. "And well, how can you say no to that face?"

"Actually, we came to bug you at work," Honda corrected his friend. "Annoying the primates was just an added bonus for Jou."

Yugi smiled ignoring the other two, "Is Mokuba having fun?"

"He is," she confirmed, "But he's such a sweetie, he'd have fun anywhere just to please me."

"It's nice that you're so fond of him," Yugi observed.

"Yeah," Jou chimed in, "He'll love getting a new big sister when you marry into the family."

"Spare me." Anzu rolled her eyes, "Any romantic inclination I might have felt towards Kaiba before would have been squashed after our little encounter this morning."

"I thought you weren't supposed to see him until this afternoon," Yugi recalled.

"I wasn't." She smiled gleefully, "He overslept."

Jou whooped, "That's priceless! Ole I've-been-programmed-to-function-flawlessly Kaiba hit the snooze one too many times?"

"Yeah, it was a real laugh riot." She shook her head, "Anyway, enough about my daily battles with the local megalomaniac. What's new with you guys?"

"My family's having a cook-out tonight," Honda told her. "My mom made me help her set up all these lame paper lanterns and stuff. You're invited."

Anzu noted the slightly desperate expression on his face, golden-brown eyes imploring and she nudged him playfully.

"Translation: Please come and make this bearable for me," she teased.

"You caught me," he slumped, "Jou's helping Yugi clean out his grandfather's garage so if you ditch me too, I'll be stuck to deal with all the old stuffy people and my parents alone."

"Well when you talk it up that way…" he grabbed her hand nervously and she grinned, "I'll be there. What time?"

"Five o'clock officially," he returned her grin gratefully, "You're the best."

"And after you suggested I'd corrupt my gene pool by merging it with Kaiba's," she wrinkled her nose with disgust.

"I'll never do it again," Honda assured her.

Jou smiled wickedly, "I, for one, will make no promise of the kind."

Anzu stuck her tongue out at him, enjoying the easy childishness of the moment. With Kaiba, every encounter was charged with hostility. Their bickering wasn't silly and good-natured like it was with her friends, but rather a fierce competition with high stakes and razor sharp observations. She simply couldn't relax around him. Even during the occasional lulls in their battles, she was too disturbed by her unwanted attraction to him to be at ease.

She couldn't believe this. Who would have thought she'd actually learn to _appreciate _Jou and Honda's endless teasing? Kaiba Seto really _was _a bad influence. Perhaps she could present this as evidence to her parents in the case to let her quit her job.

"Anzu!" Mokuba returned, flanked by the two babes, winning smile in place. He furrowed his brows as he came closer, "I didn't know Honda was your boyfriend."

"Huh?" she laughed breezily when she noticed what her charge was staring at and casually dropped Honda's hand. "Oh no, we're not dating. This one's just a big flirt, isn't that right Honda?"

"Guilty," he grinned at the boy. "Some of us have to work a little harder to impress the ladies."

"Of course guys like us don't have any trouble getting girls, right Mokuba?" Jou winked.

He smiled shyly, "Are you going to hang out with us today?"

"Only if it's okay with you," Yugi was all politeness.

"Of course it is." Mokuba beamed at him, "And anyway, I know how much Anzu has been missing you guys lately."

Anzu felt a wave of affection for the younger Kaiba brother and she impulsively grabbed his hand. Case dismissed. Even if she did have to grapple with the idiot related to this sweetheart everyday, and despite the fact her parents hadn't bothered asking before they got this job for her, how could she think of quitting?

"Mokuba, you don't have to let them tag along on my account," she ruffled his hair, "We came here for you."

"I know that. But I don't mind; I like having company," He looked at his feet, "Seto never comes out with me to places like this."

His voice tugged at her heart and Anzu decided right then that she'd find some way to remedy the situation. Even if it meant spending unnecessary amounts of time with Kaiba.

"Well come on then, squirt." Honda interrupted the suddenly solemn moment and looked down at Mokuba, "I want to check out the reptiles."

"Sure!" the little boy was excited again, "Hey can I ask you something, Honda?"

"Of course."

"Does Anzu's tummy really growl louder than a tiger?"

_………………………_

"Honey, we're home!" Anzu poked her head into Kaiba's office without knocking and smiled sweetly at the scowling CEO.

With the click of his mouse, he saved the document he'd been working on before looking up to glare at her, "Where's Mokuba?"

"Washing up for dinner."

"I trust he enjoyed the zoo."

"Oh absolutely," her eyes shined. "We all had a great time, and there were definitely no major mishaps. Well, except for that incident with the alligators, but the doctors were able to re-attach his arm so…"

His eyes snapped to hers sharply and his deep voice came out in a partial growl, "Never joke about the well-being of my brother."

He had a point…. Well, a small one anyway. It wasn't exactly smooth operating to suggest the child she was being paid to care for was in any danger. But she couldn't restrain herself when it came to Kaiba and his perpetual bad mood. Was it even possible for the guy to be anything but abrasive? Maybe it was true what mothers always said about frowning and how your face would get stuck that way – it was possible Seto's facial muscles simply couldn't pull off any expression that wasn't mean. All she knew for sure was that it really made her want to provoke him.

"If the chill pill was designed with anyone particular in mind, it was definitely you," she decided. "Go take one."

"I'd take arsenic if it would shut you up," he icily retorted.

"No way," she replied, "You're incapable of being that charitable."

Anzu widened her eyes the second the harsh sentiment escaped her lips; that was hands down the most awful thing she'd ever said to anybody. He really _was _a bad influence!

It didn't seem to faze Kaiba though – if anything his lips curled slightly with vague amusement, approval even. What the hell was wrong with him?

"Now that," he surprised her by admitting, "Was a good comeback."

"I… _what?_"

Was he serious? Was this an actual admission coming from _Kaiba_of all people? He was actually openly awarding her a point in their sick little game, and for saying he'd be doing the world a favor if he killed himself no less? Issues, much? And more importantly… _what!_

His face shifted into an expression of disgust once more at her obvious shock. It was clear that whatever approval she'd won by her fleeting moment of cruelty had been swiftly lost with her awkward reaction to it. Not that she cared. Much.

"Close your mouth already," he told her, rising gracefully from his seat. "You're flooding the carpet with saliva."

She blushingly obeyed his command and then ordered herself not to appreciate his tall, imposing form now that he was standing. His shirt was mostly buttoned today, but his pants fit so well and his shoulders were so broad, and there was the hair and the eyes and that damned _mouth_. The lips that were impossibly soft and full and… _smug_. Yeah, she couldn't forget that part – all the arrogance, rudeness and… evilness that came with his hot body and perfect face. It was so very wrong for him to be so very pretty.

"So that's two matches in a row I've now won," she attempted to gain distance from her admiration of him by falling back into an adversarial role. "You're slipping, Kaiba."

"Don't get used to it," he darkly advised, snatching his car keys off the desk and heading for the door.

She followed closely behind him, annoyed to find her eyes dipping down to appreciate the view. She was supposed to be ignoring his hotness, damnit, not ogling the jerk! Regardless, she was still unable redirect her gaze to safer territory soon enough to avoid reaching an irritating conclusion. Namely that the butt briskly walking away in the _Dolce and Gabbana_ slacks trumped Studley's, and when the hell had she become so hormonally charged? Lately, she was almost as bad as Jou and Honda in terms of lechery and they were teenage boys!

"This is ridiculous," she said aloud.

"What now?" Kaiba demanded without looking at her.

She was grateful he kept his gaze averted as it concealed her (once again) flushed countenance from his eagle eye. Now she was inadvertently broadcasting her thoughts? How many ways exactly would her boss prove to have an adverse affect on her, anyway? He was like an allergy. A big, sexy allergy.

_When the guys in white coats come to take you away, _Anzu told herself, _Do yourself a favor and go with them._

"Don't strain your brain trying to think up something clever," he finally looked at her when she still hadn't replied. "It wouldn't do for you to have an aneurism in my hallway."

She glared at him, "I'll be sure to time my death for when it's least inconvenient for you."

Honestly, he was such an asshole! A big, sexy asshole. _Ack__! Get. Help._

"Just so long as you don't die in my home, I really couldn't care less."

Considering what she'd said earlier regarding _his_ death, she couldn't exactly feel as offended as she was otherwise inclined. Although she was still plenty annoyed on principle and their mutual declarations of indifference (or in her case, joy) regarding the expiration of the other raised some interesting points to ponder. Whether they actually really _hated _each other, for starters.

She thought about it seriously. It was true that she didn't particularly like Kaiba, and she absolutely loathed the fact that she was attracted to him. He drove her crazy in many, many ways, and he frustrated her until she thought she would burst with rage. But… _hate_ was such a strong word. Truth be told, she didn't know what she felt but she did know for sure that it wasn't the 'H' word. But what did he feel? Did she even care?

… Maybe. A little.

"Do you really hate me that much?" she was mortified to find herself asking.

_Shut up already! _she ordered her evil mouth, _No more saying things without my express permission!_

But now that the question was out there, she held her breath waiting for him to confirm that yes, he did in fact hate her _that _much.

"I make it a point not to answer stupid questions," he replied, scowling down at her. Then he surprised her for the second time that day by placing his hand at the small of her back and roughly steering her out into the driveway, "Finish whining later. Right now, I'm taking you home."

_He didn't answer, _she thought, _and now he is touching me._

Although, it wasn't a gentle caress or anything – more of a forceful pressure really – his fingertips had landed in a very provocative manner on an arguably intimate area. To put one's hand there was to indicate a sense of protectiveness or ownership, whether it was intended or not. And his palm was so warm and strong, digits splayed out on her lower back, urging her forward. Anzu valiantly tried to ignore the way her heart was fluttering and fought to remain upright. Her knees were starting to liquefy.

Which was painfully ridiculous considering he was only touching her in an effort to hurry her along out of his home. Not to mention the fact that it _was _only her back.

_If we ever have sex, I'll probably die. _

"So, um Kaiba!" she forced herself to speak, in an attempt to distract herself from such utterly _wrong _thoughts. "I told Honda I'd be at his place for a cookout right after work, so why don't you just drop me off there instead?"

He withdrew his hand as they approached his waiting car and glared at her while striding over to the driver's side. She was both sorry and relieved that he was no longer touching her. Sorry because, well because it felt good. Relieved because… his glare said it all. Nice, sweet, happy girls were not supposed to fall for evil guys like him. This argument was becoming the center of her adolescent world.

"I'm not a chauffeur," he told her irritably. "Find your own transportation to your friend's house."

"Well I just thought if you're driving me anyway, you might as well-,"

"Forget it." He slid easily into the driver's seat and gestured that she should do the same on her side, "Get in."

"Look Kaiba," she got into the car next to him, determined to convince him.

Aside from wanting to get to her friend's on time… She just really needed to _make _him do something. It was irrational, but somehow it seemed to her that if she could get him to do this, then they'd be even in some weird cosmic sense. Him bending to her will the same way _he _made her feel so squishy when he touched her. Or something like that – she acknowledged she wasn't exactly in her right mind.

"You really should drop me off at Honda's."

"Nothing you say will convince me of that, so you might as well drop it."

"His house is closer."

_………………………_

A handful of guests were already mingling on Honda's lawn when a beautiful Porsche convertible said lawn-owner would have sold his soul to own pulled up in front. Of course seconds later, the vision was shattered when a frazzled young lady exited the vehicle throwing a notably unladylike obscenity over her shoulder at the driver.

"Anzu," Honda smiled at his friend, glad she hadn't decided to stand him up, "You made it!"

She promptly threw her arms around him.

"Uh… Anzu?" He was happy to see her too, but this was a far warmer reception than any she'd ever given him.

"Normal people!" she half-sobbed into his shoulder.

"Well that's not-,"

"Say something sarcastic and I will kill you."

He looked down at his dear friend and deduced by the slightly wild look in her bright blue eyes that she most definitely not kidding. She was clearly still coming down from a fit of Kaiba-induced rage. He had to play it safe.

"So. Who wants salad?"

_………………………_

Next chapter: Scandal!


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's note:__ This was actually going to be delayed a little longer because I have way too many RL obligations to be spending time on fanfiction. But the need to sit my ass down and write this chapter, damnit, forced it out of me so… Homework? What is this foreign thing you speak of? You say I'm supposed to be doing that instead of this? Oh. Well, shit._

_……………………_

**Chapter 6**

Saturday morning found Anzu rising from a blissful slumber with a grin on her face. She had indulged in an extra hour of sleep and combined with the warm sun filtering in through her blinds, it went a long way to improving her spirits. That and it was her very first day off from the summer job.

_No Kaiba 'til Monday!_

She stabbed her fist into the air, "Yes!"

"Pleasant dreams, Anzu?"

"Ack!"

She whipped around to find Honda, Yugi, and Jou whom had spoken standing ever-so-calmly in her room. Instantly, she was suspicious. Anzu was always glad to see them, of course, but there was something odd about their little surprise visit.

For one, they looked rather cagey, standing in a tight cluster, faces a little _too _casual while they observed her. Yugi was bright-eyed and alert as usual, despite the early hour, but his expression was somewhat... injured. Honda looked good too, gaze clear and even, clothes neat and fresh, but his jaw was rigid. And Jounouchi… well, he looked like crap. It was pretty clear he'd been dragged from a deep sleep and rushed out of the house.

Even if Anzu didn't know for a fact he routinely slept until at least noon on the weekends, his disheveled appearance was a dead giveaway. Sporting some comically wild bed-head and slight stubble, he wore yesterday's wrinkled jeans (which he'd forgotten to zip up) obviously retrieved from his floor. His shoes were untied and his countenance was stormy.

Something was definitely up - she could cut the tension in the room with a knife.

"Dad! There's a group of hormonal boys in my bedroom!" Anzu shouted out her open door, attempting to diffuse the situation with a little levity.

"Yes, I know," he called back, "I let them in."

"Ugh," she looked down at her rumpled T-shirt and ran a hand through her tangled morning-hair. How dare her father bring the public eye to her before she had a chance to blow-dry and lip-gloss? Good thing it was just the guys. The clearly perturbed guys who were starting to freak her out with their collective solemnity.

She tried again, "Why can't you carry a shotgun and bar all of the male persuasion from venturing anywhere near my bed like a normal father?"

"Why can't you hang out with giggly girls who want nothing more than slumber parties and fashion magazines like a normal daughter?"

_Touché._

"Revenge later," she decided aloud before turning to study her friends warily. Not a single smile – this _was _serious.

"So," Anzu aimed for a casual tone, "What are you guys doing here?"

"Just dropping off a little gift," Jou sounded anything but charitable as he tossed a thin magazine at her, "Feel free to add this to your scrapbook."

Anzu squinted at it curiously, "A tabloid? Why did you…"

She trailed off, noticing the cover photograph: it looked a little familiar. Was that… _Oh God. _Her eyes snapped to the headline – _'Teenage CEO Romances Classmate' _– and returned swiftly to the picture. Obviously taken with a telephoto lens, the moment captured through the window of Kaiba's Porsche was one she'd never wanted to relive again. But this… this was so much _worse. _Because the stupid photographer picked the exact second things looked a little less than innocent. Downright naughty, actually.

While _she_ knew all he had been doing was unfastening a stuck seatbelt, the angle made it look like he was kissing her neck. His hair brushed her shoulders, just as she remembered, but it also hid his face which seemed to be buried somewhere around her throat. _Her_ face tipped towards his, eyes half-lidded, cheeks flushed… _with humiliation, _she recalled, _not desire! _

But what made the photo _really _horrific, as if it wasn't embarrassing enough, was the fact that Kaiba's hands were obscured by the dashboard. His arms were visible though, and bent towards her in a way that suggested a little below-the-waist action was going on.

_NOOOOOOO!_

Anzu turned ashen, "I can explain!"

"Why you were serving our sworn enemy a piece of Anzu-cake?" Honda crossed his arms over his broad chest and narrowed his eyes at her, "Please do tell."

Yugi's purple gaze was wide and hurt, "You told us nothing was going on with him."

"There _isn't_ anything going on between us," she insisted, "Look, this is all just a big misunderstanding. That picture is a perfectly innocent moment captured and misconstrued."

Jou looked caught somewhere between annoyed, hurt, and amused. He finally settled for an accusing glare, "I don't see anything innocent about that snake sucking on your neck… and God knows what else."

Yugi and Honda nodded in agreement, and Anzu blushed furiously.

"It's not like that!" she swore.

"Um… not to accuse you of lying," Yugi seemed almost as embarrassed as she was, "But the picture…"

"Has been grossly misinterpreted," she completed the thought, "Like I said."

Her denials were met with skeptical silence, Yugi fidgeting nervously, Honda scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, Jou warily meeting her gaze. They obviously didn't like confronting her this way, were unused to having her lie to them and about something so… _inappropriate._ They may have spent the past couple days teasing her about crushing on Kaiba, but that certainly didn't mean they wanted her getting busy with him – and keeping it a secret.

Anzu stared down at the wretched tabloid and almost laughed. The situation was so absurd; the picture, the accusations, the fact that it just looked _so _incriminating. She was perfectly innocent of what the photo suggested, but lately her mind had enjoyed a great deal of time in the gutter considering such things. In that sense she supposed she deserved their skepticism; she was guilty.

But her private thoughts were just that – private. In the meantime, she really needed to do something about _publicly_ clearing her name.

"Look, if he was really sucking on my neck, I'd have a hickey right?" she tried to be logical in her defense, tugging her tangled hair away from her neck, "So where is it?

Yugi looked hopeful (and embarrassed. Again. Some more.), but Jou wasn't biting.

He sniffed, "That just means the moron didn't do it right."

"Yeah," Honda agreed, "The guy's a real cold fish."

"Right," Jou nodded. "So what was it Anzu? He left you so unsatisfied, you couldn't bear to talk about it?"

"_NO!_" She collapsed back onto fluffy pillows, pulling her blanket over her burning face, "Oh my _Gawd!_"

"You mean he actually did the job?" Honda was incredulous. "Okay, just so we're clear protection was involved right? Because a bunch of little Kaibas running around isn't exactly a pleasant thought."

_… WHAT?_

That did it. Something inside Anzu snapped as she absorbed the full weight of what her friend was implying. It was all too much. The guys thinking she'd done _that _with Kaiba. The whole city assuming the exact same thing. About her. And _Kaiba. _Her mortification vanished, quickly replaced with anger and pushing the covers away, she leaped off the bed to whap Honda across the back of his depraved little head.

"For crying out loud!" she fumed, "He was unfastening my seatbelt you jackass!"

Jou smirked, "So that's what we're calling it nowadays?"

_Oh no he di'int!_

"You retards!" she exploded, "One stupid suspect picture and you assume we're sleeping together? Don't you know me at all? _Augh!_"

Stunned silence.

"Well to be fair, Anzu," Honda was the first to hesitantly reply, "Nobody said anything about _sleeping._"

"_MOM!" _

Her anger took a new direction and snatching up her "gift", she stormed out of the bedroom, "friends" hot on her heels. She discovered her mother seated calmly at the kitchen table, sipping coffee from the mug Anzu had made for her in the fourth grade. Heiji sat next to her, mellow green eyes scanning a newspaper. If the two of them had noticed all the commotion coming from their daughter's room, they didn't show it.

Anzu found their tranquility to be very provoking and she slammed the tabloid down on the table between them in a childish attempt to dissolve it.

"You see this mom? Dad?" she pointed at the cover page she was growing to detest more than her co-star in the appalling drama. "_This_ is what happens when you get unwanted employment for your only daughter behind her back!"

Eri very serenely picked up the trashy magazine and to her daughter's extreme dismay, had the audacity to smile with amusement.

"My daughter's very first media coverage… should I be proud?"

Heiji nodded, "I say we get out the scrapbook."

"Not helping!" Anzu glared at her folks, "My life is a circus and it's all your fault!"

"Hmm…" her father peered closely at the calamitous photograph. "You two do look awfully close. This is the same guy you swear up and down is Hell spawn?"

"He _IS!_"

"Well," Mrs. Mazaki suddenly grew serious, "That doesn't bode well for our future grandchildren - do you think they'll be born with horns?"

Mr. Mazaki's eyes took on a mischievous glint as he took the reigns from his wife, "We'll have to sew up some creative hats to cover them…"

"Oh of course!" she playfully replied, "And little mittens for the cloven hoofs!"

"Not much to be done about the arrowed tail I'm afraid…" he gravely stroked his chin.

"Cute guys," Anzu rolled her eyes with disgust, "Real cute."

"Ha-ha!" unlike his friend, Honda was delighted by her parents' antics. "Come on Rosemary, take your meds. You want the baby to be healthy don't you?"

"Knock it off," she kicked him in the shin, then looked up to address the universe. "Why? Why can't I have _normal_ parents?"

Eri ignored her, "Sweetie, I know this is embarrassing for you, but at least now that it's out there, you don't have to lie about your relationship anymore."

"Besides," Heiji added, "Your mother and I should know about your boyfriends."

"_He is NOT my boyfriend!_" she shouted. "We're not making out in that picture, never have been, never will be! This is all just a stupid misunderstanding! My seatbelt was stuck and he was helping me out of it. That's all."

Yugi sighed, "Look, nobody's angry, Anzu."

"Except for me," Jou was fully alert now thanks to the excitement, "I'm plenty angry"

Honda grinned, "Nobody important is angry."

"We're just… concerned," Yugi continued, "Why don't you come clean?"

"I have!" Anzu felt a vein throbbing somewhere on her forehead, "The seatbelt! Stuck! _That's it!_"

"That Porsche is brand new, Anzu." A skeptical Honda pointed out.

"Which only adds to the absurdity factor of the whole situation," Anzu replied. "Believe me, I know this all looks very… untoward. But, come on. It's a tabloid. They twist things. And I am telling you honestly as your friend and daughter, that absolutely _nothing _happened. I promise."

While her parents exchanged looks that showed they were coming around to her point of view, Yugi, Jou, and Honda all remained decidedly disbelieving. Although Yugi, to his credit, did appear as if he desperately _wanted _to accept her version of events. Of course, his superior mind won out in the end, latching on to the facts the picture so deceptively provided.

Anzu was hurt, "You guys… come on. I'm telling the truth here."

Nothing.

"Fine," she snapped, annoyed to find tears creeping towards the corners of her eyes. "I'll just be in my room if any of you come to your senses."

"Anzu-,"

But she'd already cleared half the stairs at that point in her rush to get away from them all, and she locked the door behind her once she was safely inside her bedroom.

Her life had officially surpassed disaster territory, she decided, collapsing onto the unmade bed in a frustrated heap.

_And here I was hoping for a Kaiba-free day._

………………………..

"Seto," Mokuba looked up at his big brother with plaintive gray eyes, "You _promised._"

Tense fingers pressing against throbbing temples, Kaiba turned away from the child's wounded stare. He hated feeling guilty, despite the fact such feelings were warranted considering. He _had _promised Mokuba they'd spend the day together, and now he was forced to renege to go handle a crisis at the office.

_Damnit! I knew Carter would get cold feet if I wasn't there to deal with things in person. _

If he wanted to get anything done, he had to do it himself.

He sighed, "I know I promised, but this is important. If I don't make a personal appearance to show solidarity _Omitech _will pull out of the merger. And you know how hard I've been working to make this happen."

"Yeah," Mokuba dropped his gaze and chewed his lower lip, "I know."

Oh, this was just perfect. Now, not only did he feel like an asshole (something that only bothered him when it came to his little brother), his guilt-factor was on the rise. He glanced down at Mokuba's disappointed face and frowned.

_Kaiba Seto – Negligent prick. _

Probably the only name he _hadn't _been called, and the most suited label at this particular instant.

"Look," he crouched down and placed his hands on the little boy's small shoulders. "Tell me what I can do to make it up to you."

"You don't have to make it up to me," Mokuba insisted, forcing a smile. "I understand how these things work. You wouldn't go if it wasn't important."

His complete willingness to let Seto off the hook, only made the elder Kaiba feel guiltier. He shook his head, "Anything, Mokuba. Whatever you want, just tell me."

"Seto," his smile was shifting into genuine territory and he made a _Mazaki-esque _show of rolling his eyes. "I told you not to worry about it."

"Mokuba," he hardened his features, "I insist."

"Well," the boy smiled tentatively, "You could… you could ask Anzu if she could come spend the day with me. I mean, if she's not busy or anything. I wouldn't mind if she brought her friends along if she wanted. But only if she wants to. You have to ask nicely."

Seto narrowed his eyes. For one, he didn't _ask nicely _for anything. And secondly, he was relieved to be rid of Mazaki for the weekend. He didn't like the way she brought the sex appeal he'd previously been so blissfully blind to with her every day. It was unsettling how distracting she could be with the legs and smiles and curves. He didn't appreciate how she got on his nerves with her admittedly sharp wit one minute, then got under his skin with her disarmingly charming grin the next.

It was of grave importance that he purge the stupid girl from his system and build up an immunity to her attractiveness. The _last_ thing he wanted was to call her up and beg her to give up her Saturday to come to work.

Had Kaiba thought his little brother was capable of such pettiness, he would swear Mokuba had cooked up this scheme for the sole purpose of punishing him. A sharp refusal tugged at his tongue, but he stopped himself before he could actually give voice to it.

He _had _said _anything_, after all.

He sighed, "Done."

"Great!" Mokuba beamed up at him for half a second before his expression became suddenly wary. "But I meant what I said before, you have to be nice. Don't… _make _her come if she doesn't want to."

"Don't worry about it," Kaiba advised, "You just leave Mazaki to me."

_…………………………_

Kaiba didn't dial Anzu's number until he was already in the back of a limo, legal documents pertaining to the stupid merger spread across his lap. With all the two-bit players involved in the transaction, he should have known better than to take a day off. The whole godforsaken world was cursed with idiots and he was in business with them.

Speaking of which… Mazaki's voice lacked the "chirpy" quality it usually held as she answered on the fourth ring.

"I don't care who this is," she snapped irritably, "But no, I'm not sleeping with Kaiba Seto, and yes, I _would_ like for everybody to stop calling to ask me about it. Oh, and I'm not answering the phone again for the rest of the day, so it would be a waste of time to call back."

Click.

_What the…? _

Seto was relieved nobody could see him now, in the back of the limo with tinted windows, because he was certain he resembled some of the slack-jawed morons he was forced to associate with daily. It was good form to be caught by surprise when there was nobody around to witness it.

Very deliberately closing his agape mouth, and forcing his eyes back into their sockets, Kaiba did the only logical thing under the circumstances. He didn't even try to figure out just what _that _was all about on his own, but rather immediately called the idiot girl back to demand an explanation for her statement.

True to her word, however, she refused to answer her cell phone and the CEO was instead met with her voicemail after seven rings.

"Hi," an overly saccharine voice greeted him, "You've reached the voicemail of Mazaki Anzu. I can't come to the phone right now because I'm busy vomiting over the very thought of Kaiba Seto's lips coming anywhere near mine. If you'd like to leave a message, I'll try to get back to you the second my stomach settles but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."

Kaiba snapped his phone shut with a scowl. What in the hell was going on here? How was he supposed to convince this apparent nut job to come spend the day with his brother when she'd suddenly given up the phone for fear people would accuse her of sleeping with him? What on earth would make anybody think such a thing was actually happening? And perhaps, most importantly, why _wasn't_ she sleeping with him anyway?

_What? No! I didn't mean that._

The entire back of the limousine seemed to darken under the weight of his scowl as Kaiba absorbed it all. He was losing control of his thought processes when it came to _her._ Moments of irrationality continued to slip through the cracks when he least expected it, flooding his mind with these… images. Very hormonal visuals and tawdry considerations that had no business invading his otherwise logical, tactical psyche. And then there was this occasional glimmer of… of _feeling _that would sneak up on him unaware in the fleeting moments she occupied his brain unhindered by coherence.

Kaiba did not like this. At all. Something had to be done.

"Mr. Kaiba," the driver addressed him through the intercom and Seto was suddenly aware that they'd stopped. "We're here."

Filing his more ominous thoughts away for later consideration, he glanced out the window to find Mazaki's cheerful blue house staring back and hastily exited the vehicle without a word.

He hurried up her driveway, determined to get this over with the sooner, the better. Aside from the fact that he really had no desire to spend any more time with his brother's distracting nanny than necessary, he was kind of on a tight schedule here. He'd get her to come, no question, but he wouldn't grovel, he would _not _be nice, and he would get it all done as quickly as possible.

As if sensing his urgency, Anzu threw the door open before he even had a chance to ring the bell. She was adorable today in pajama pants and a baby tee. Her hair was still damp from a recent shower and her face was fresh and clean without makeup.

Aside from her cuteness, she also appeared rather on edge, if her blue eyes glancing furtively in every direction were any indication. Well that and her entire body really, which vibrated with unrest.

Suddenly, she ceased her perusal of their surroundings and grabbing hold of his jacket lapels with both hands, forcefully _yanked _him inside the house. Caught off balance, Kaiba's hands shot forward to steady him and landed on the curve of her waist. Anzu reacted by using the momentum to propel them in the opposite direction and hastily closed the open door with her back. Then, continuing their odd little dance, she started to push him towards the living room.

The whole situation had the feeling of a prequel to… to something he wasn't _supposed _to be thinking about. Her hands were firm against his chest, forcing him to step back rather than fall over, and his own hands were cradling her waist in an unforgivably possessive manner. He _had_ to withdraw, but her shirt was riding up slightly, and her skin was way softer than it looked and so warm and he liked touching her _too_ _much._

_Let go Kaiba, _he ordered himself even while he continued to enjoy holding her, _Do it now._

But before he could make his hands obey him, she was the one to break contact, shoving him aggressively away from her onto an overstuffed red couch. The impact jerked Kaiba's mind away from its little diversion to the gutter and he immediately stood, indignant at being manhandled in such a way.

"Mazaki," he growled, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

He meant it in more ways than just the obvious. The mauling was one thing, but the way she felt, looked and smelled and how it made his thoughts wander was an equally punishable offense.

Anzu ignored him, crossing her arms across her chest and matching his glare for once in terms of severity. If looks could kill, he'd be a pile of ashes on the floor.

Obviously, Kaiba decided, she wasn't any happier to have him around than he was to be there. He wondered distantly if she was similarly angry because she found him attractive.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, "You're not supposed to be here. It's my day off!"

"Yes, I'm aware of that." He looked at her pointedly, "I did call first."

"You… oh," her eyes grew larger as it suddenly dawned on her, "_Oh!_"

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh? That's all you have to say for yourself?"

"Well… yeah," she sat down on a worn out recliner. "I mean, I think it's important to get the word out to my friends and acquaintances that you and I aren't actually… you know, _together _or anything."

"But the very idea that we are is laughable. Why would anybody think otherwise?"

"Duh! Because of the – Hey!" she switched gears abruptly and rose again to look up at him with accusing eyes, "What did you think you were doing coming up to my door in broad daylight like that, anyway? You do realize this is just going to make it all look that much worse, don't you?"

"I-,"

"And having your driver park this _massive_ limo right in front of my house?" she went on, "To borrow a term from my insolent friend Jou, how _heat _can you get?"

"Wh-,"

"On the _very day _all the rumors start circulating too, while I'm here trying my absolute best to stop them! Honestly, you're no help at all! Don't you understand it's all about damage control now? What do you think everybody's going to say when- mmph!"

It was Kaiba's turn to interrupt, though he was far more efficient about it, calmly placing one hand over her mouth to silence the tirade and using the other to support the back of her head. He was rewarded with wet strands of silky hair intertwining with one set of fingers and warm saliva coating his right palm.

_Yuck. _

Of course, the indignantly shocked expression on her face alone was worth it and he found himself smiling smugly in spite of his agitation.

"I should have done this a long time ago," he decided, deepening his grin when she glowered in response. "Now then, I want you to tell me what the hell you're babbling about in as few words as you can manage. Do you understand? Blink once if you do."

Long, dark lashes swept her cheeks as she silently agreed with him, although he could feel her lips (which were incidentally, _softer _than her skin) frowning against his hand. And was that the sound of grinding teeth?

"Good," he released her, "So talk."

"The whole universe thinks we're getting it on," she said simply.

He sighed, "A little coherence would be a welcome change."

"Oh I'm sorry," she said caustically, "Was I using too many big words? Maybe I should talk slower?"

Seto raised an eyebrow. That particular insult was just the type he dished out frequently; it was weird to be on the receiving end of it.

"I understand what you're saying, idiot. But you're leaving out the most important part."

"What?"

"Not what," he corrected her. "Why."

"You mean why everybody thinks we're…" she buried her face in her hands, "Oh god, I don't think I can say it again."

"Focus, Mazaki!" Kaiba was growing frustrated. Time was money and he hadn't even got to the reason he was here yet. "I know your feeble little mind would rather drift back into empty space, but I'm waiting for an answer."

"You want an answer?" she stomped over to snatch something off the coffee table and hurled it at him, "Here's your stupid answer!"

Kaiba caught the object, a magazine, and studied the cover speculatively. He sighed; the picture made things appear rather incriminating and he wasn't crazy about how _he _came across. If one were to believe this was what it looked like, then he was the one doing all the work, giving all the pleasure. How insulting.

Even so, the photograph was printed on the same trash peddled by people who made a career of spreading lies about him. This was actually rather tame in comparison with some of the other stories they'd come up with over the years. He couldn't believe people actually bought into it all.

"Do you get it now?" Anzu demanded. "I mean that _picture. _Why didn't you warn me about this when I took the job?"

Seto shrugged, "Occupational hazard."

"The paparazzi?"

"Yes, and you'd better get used to it." He tossed the tabloid aside like the garbage it was, "Now that they've linked us romantically, this won't be the last cover you appear on with me."

"But… that's… That is completely unfair. _One_ cover has already destroyed my credibility with my friends."

She glared at him accusingly, as if _he _had taken the picture and printed it.

"I'm not responsible for your simpleton friends. If they're dumb enough to believe this nonsense then that's their problem." He waved his hand dismissively, eager to move on from the topic that had already wasted enough valuable time.

"Anyway, I didn't come here to discuss the geek squad and their gullibility." He cut to the chase, "I need you to look after Mokuba for the day."

Anzu looked a bit confused at the sudden change of subject, "It's my day off."

"_You _might be figuring that out just now," he said scornfully, "But some of us have known for awhile. I came prepared to pay you extra for your trouble for that exact reason."

"I see," she studied him carefully. "But I don't understand why you need _me_. Can't another member of your household watch him? It's just one day after all."

"He asked for you," he admitted.

"Huh." She continued to watch him thoughtfully and Kaiba's agitation increased. The stupid, cruel girl was making him sweat it out. "And you agreed."

"Apparently," he snapped peevishly. Why was she still looking at him that way?

"You'd do a lot for your brother wouldn't you?"

What the hell was this? Just what did she think she was doing standing there with those impossibly big eyes running across his face in search of clues, asking loaded questions, and trying to read him? He inwardly answered that he'd do _anything _for Mokuba but he couldn't very well tell _her_ that now. Not when it was so obvious it was precisely what she wanted to hear him say.

He settled for a sharp nod of agreement instead.

Her eyes remained affixed on his face, features stuck in that maddeningly pensive expression while she worked out some internal problem. She was inferring just how desperate he was to have her come with him, he knew, and it made him nervous. Kaiba did not like feeling nervous any more than he enjoyed finding Anzu attractive.

"Okay," she said finally, "I'll do it, but I won't accept your money."

He didn't let himself feel relief yet; as a businessman, he knew an incomplete transaction when he saw one. She wanted something else.

"State your conditions," he warily commanded.

"Drop the plural," she advised, "I have only one."

"Which is?" He was growing increasingly impatient.

"Consider it a favor to you," she said, "And I'll come with you."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. He didn't accept favors, not ever. Accepting favors meant you were indebted to another human being and that was simply insupportable. Once again he'd underestimated the girl. She couldn't have dreamed up a better contingency had she brainstormed all night.

But the thing was… she had him. Because he didn't have time to bargain with her and he had already broken one promise to his brother today. He couldn't break another.

_"Anything, Mokuba. Whatever you want, just tell me."_

_Anything. _

"Fine," he sighed. "It's a deal."

She smiled brilliantly and he knew he was going to regret it.

_…………………………_

_A/N:__ Oh god, my poor fingers! (dies) Anyhoo, here's a definition for anybody who was confused earlier: "Heat" as in "How heat can you get?" – an expression ripped off from my twin brother to describe things that are overly conspicuous especially in situations where subtly or a low profile is desired. Derived from the term, "Heat score." Make sense?_

_Next chapter: Anzu collects!_


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N: _**_Thank you all… well, that is, MOST of you for your patience. Uni/work/RL obligations have been kicking the shit out of me these past months (causing me to be insanely busy) and I appreciate those of you who have refrained from badgering me for immediate updates. _

_The good news is that I'm done with one of those three evils for the summer (Uni) which frees up a lot of time for fanfiction. I hope to be updating a lot more frequently now so thanks again for waiting!_

_…………………………_

**Chapter Seven**

"Expect an ambush," Eri casually advised her daughter when she returned from her impromptu extra shift with Mokuba.

Anzu scowled; while it had been nice spending the day with her cute charge, her mood had long since returned to its prior dark state in his absence. The limo ride home (thankfully sans Kaiba) had given her a chance to check her cell phone messages and every last one of them pertained to her "relationship" with her boss.

She warily peeked inside her mother's open study to find the woman going over the particulars of her latest case. In pink bunny slippers, no less – the very picture of legal professionalism.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded impatiently.

"You're still in your pajamas," Mrs. Mazaki smilingly noted, ignoring the query.

"My _paramour_ wouldn't let me change before we left this morning."

No doubt petty vengeance for daring to do him a favor, Kaiba had literally dragged her out of the house the second they'd made their deal. He had places to be, he'd snappishly informed her, there was no time for her to "attempt beautification."

"Uh-oh," her mother grinned. "Lovers quarrel?"

Anzu glared, "I sincerely hope you've taken to speaking in antonyms."

Eri laughed, "You just watch yourself. And tell the boys they can stay for dinner."

"They're here?"

"Yes, laying in wait in your bedroom." She fixed her daughter with a knowing look, "They seemed contrite."

Anzu absorbed this with some satisfaction; contrition was good. Contrition meant apologies were bound to be afoot and cruel accusations were about to be taken back. She could live with that.

"Finally some _good _news," she muttered, starting in the direction of her room.

As promised, her friends were waiting for her when she arrived at her destination and true to her mother's word, looked awfully repentant. Well actually, Yugi and Honda looked sorry – Jou was too busy trying to pry the lock off her diary to look anything but determined.

Yugi noticed her first, "Anzu!"

"Huh?" Jou's head snapped up and he promptly flung her diary away from him wincing when it hit the far wall with a thud. He smiled sheepishly, "Hey!"

"Guys," she said guardedly, tossing a quick reproachful glare at Jou. "What's up?"

"I… that is, _we _are sorry about this morning," Yugi told her in a rush, "Right guys?"

"Yeah," Honda nodded. "We should have believed you."

"True," she agreed.

"It's just that the picture caught us off guard," Yugi continued, blushing. "It looked like… it was… we were surprised."

Jou clapped his shy friend on the back, "I think what Yug here is trying to say is that nobody looking at that picture thought Kaiba was _unfastening your seatbelt_."

"Right," the vertically challenged boy turned redder. "But… if you say that's all that happened then it has to be true. I think we were all too upset earlier to realize that."

"And we didn't get a chance to closely study the photograph," Honda chimed in, "And decide that your explanation was plausible after all."

"That too," Jou grinned, "And besides, who says the jerks running that trash rag aren't good with _Photoshop_?"

"I hope you all know how frustrating you are," Anzu shook her head, "Why couldn't you have reached this conclusion _before _you dragged me out of bed to berate me this morning?"

The three nervously exchanged glances before Honda smiled sweetly, "Uh… because we're male?"

"Yes, well I suppose that goes without saying," she rolled her eyes and collapsed onto her bed next to Jou. "I forgive you of course. Because _I_ happen to be a _good _friend."

At Yugi's stricken countenance she backtracked, "Just like the rest of you… most of the time."

Yugi beamed at her, and she couldn't help but return his smile. It really was hard to stay mad at them when they were offering sincere apologies and tactfully refraining from commenting on her suspiciously pajama-clad appearance. Besides, Yugi had the sweetest smile on the planet rivaling only Mokuba's. You couldn't be angry with a face like that, and with the day she'd just had, Anzu didn't have the energy to try.

She let herself relax, pleased to be back in her friends' good graces and vice versa. In the middle of an insane situation, she needed her guys to be her anchors. She couldn't have them conspiring against her like the rest of the world.

"Aww," Jounouchi clutched at his heart, dramatically, "She really loves us!"

Which reminded her…

"Did you read that in my diary?"

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," Jou swore.

She shoved him off the bed.

_…………………………_

By Monday, Anzu knew the chances of clearing her name regarding her supposed not-so-clandestine encounter with Kaiba every tabloid in the city was now broadcasting were nil.

It started on Sunday when she'd made the mistake of accompanying her parents on their mall expedition to acquire new patio furniture. Her mother had teasingly offered her an enormous pair of sunglasses and a weathered baseball cap before they left the house and Anzu had almost considered not going. This would have been the smart thing to do.

Instead, not only was she unwise enough to leave the house, she left the disguise at home. And promptly regretted it. No sooner had they entered the Garden Center of her dad's favorite department store than two adolescent girls approached her.

"Are you Mazaki Anzu?" the shorter of the two wanted to know.

"Um, yeah." She had replied cautiously, trying to recall if they'd met before.

"Wow," the blonde pig-tailed one regarded her with something akin to awe, "So did you really go _all the way_ with Kaiba Seto?"

To which Anzu responded by promptly turning on her heels in the direction of her dad's truck where she remained with the doors locked until her parents returned.

She had been _recognized. _By complete strangers. In a public place. And unlike professional famous people, she didn't even have the wealth to soften the blow of such intrusiveness.

It wasn't until Anzu was well on her way home that she realized she hadn't issued a stern resounding _'No' _to the pig-tailed girl's rude question. She hadn't even _politely_ disengaged herself from the situation. She'd simply fled like a big, fat coward. So much for good PR.

Now, a day later at the mansion, it was becoming increasingly obvious that the household staff which had been so blessedly ignorant about the whole situation on Saturday was rather informed today. For every co-worker she encountered who wouldn't meet her eyes, there was another who met them all too boldly. A few smirks were thrown into the mix, and just to make things interesting a handful of disapproving frowns.

For not the first time since the incident, Anzu felt the urge to stand in the middle of the hallway and scream to anybody who would listen that she was innocent, damnit! But that would no doubt hinder her cause more than it would help _and_ lend credibility to the assumption that she struggled with impulse-control issues. (A condition Honda had first labeled her with after the Ice Cream Debacle of '02 – which was, in her defense, post major humiliation. But whatever.)

The fact was, now that the rumor was out there with an incriminating photograph to back it up, denials of any kind were useless. She could protest the accusations until she was blue in the face, and nobody would believe her.

Instead, Anzu was determined to accept it. So people thought she was dating a rich and sexy, albeit obnoxious guy. There were worse things. Sure it sucked but her parents, Yugi, Honda, and Jounouchi believed her. Did it really matter if a bunch of strangers and a few casual acquaintances thought otherwise?

Absolutely not. Let them think what they want, she knew who she was and that's all that mattered. Everybody else could get bent.

She held her head as high as she could without straining her neck and walked purposefully towards Kaiba's office. It was time to collect on that favor.

It was too bad really that what she was prepared to ask of her smug employer wouldn't suitably put him in his place for everything she'd had to endure up until this point. She really would have enjoyed exacting revenge.

_Damn this soul of mine!_

Anzu didn't even hesitate when she reached her destination, boldly throwing open the door without knocking and insolently strolling inside.

Her forceful intrusion didn't seem to faze Kaiba; he continued to shuffle through the paperwork he was putting in his briefcase without sparing her a glance. But the sudden tension in his jaw was a definite sign of acknowledgement. He was annoyed.

"When your brain catches up to you," he said, "Perhaps you should remind it of the concept of _knocking_."

"Just trying to relate to you in a way you can understand," she informed him, "Knocking is, after all, a courtesy _civilized_ people enjoy."

"And one _unemployed_ people don't have to worry about."

"You know, I was really hoping we could skip the 'idle threats' portion of our morning banter," she mused aloud, casually taking a seat in _his _custom leather chair behind the desk.

Maybe, Anzu conceded, she was enjoying her upper hand _too _much. But it was rare form for anybody, particularly somebody like her, to be in the wonderful position of having Kaiba Seto indebted to her. If she couldn't use the favor itself to make him suffer, it was at the very least her _duty _to ensure everything leading up to it was unpleasant for him.

"Mazaki," he finally looked up from his papers to glare at her. "What _is _it that you want?"

She leaned back into the leather, making herself comfortable. It wasn't hard; the chair was large and soft, and it molded to her body perfectly. It smelled faintly of Kaiba's cologne and she could tell he had been sitting on it very recently from the warmth he'd left behind. The thought excited her somewhat, for reasons she really didn't care to explore.

"Quid pro quo," she stated businesslike, forcing certain unwanted thoughts out of her mind. "I held up my end of the bargain, now it's time for _you_ to deliver the goods."

Anzu underlined her professional tone by kicking her legs out and spinning around in the chair like a four-year-old. Her tenuous position of power combined with the sensation of Kaiba's left over body heat was making her giddy.

She was a little in love with the big, imposing chair that cradled her; it was very conducive to gloatingly holding something over another. It suddenly made sense why every ruthless business person needed one. She found herself wishing arbitrarily for a smoking jacket and a glass of cognac to swirl around smugly just to complete the picture.

Anzu covered her laughter by sternly clearing her throat.

Kaiba, for his part, was not amused. He circled the large desk until he was standing in front of her and met her inclined gaze, his expression unreadable. She would have felt intimidated by how large and threatening he appeared towering over her seated form, were it not for the chair.

Under the circumstances, she stared back serenely, unconcerned with his intrusion on her personal space. It was apparent from up close that he'd taken a shower within the last thirty minutes. His skin still had that telltale glow about it, fresh and clean, and she inhaled the subtle fragrance of his soap. He smelled _really _good. Better than the cologne-scented leather she was buried in.

"Tell me what you want," he demanded in a low, rumbling voice.

_That was so completely unsexy and did absolutely nothing for me, _Anzu lied to herself. She followed it with a much-needed dose of truth; _I really don't like this guy._

"Tickets," she replied.

"Tickets," Kaiba repeated.

"Yes, there's this really skilled magician coming to town – Copperfield's "student" or something – and I thought we could -,"

"We?" he interrupted to scornfully look down his nose at her. "You did me a favor so I would be forced to endure a date with you? I knew you were pathetic, but this is a new low."

Anzu scowled, her rising attraction squashed once more by his _assiness_. He really was so much more appealing when he kept his stupid mouth closed.

She fashioned her face into an expression she hoped properly communicated what she was thinking - which was _'Bitch, please' _– and waved her hand dismissively.

"You've clearly been reading a little too much of your own publicity," she snapped. "Now shut up and let me finish. Mokuba brought this to my attention in the first place, you know. He told me all about it on Saturday, while I was here covering your desperate ass."

Seto's eyebrow twitched, but he said nothing.

"He really wants to go," she told him. "Actually his exact words were, 'I should take you to see him,' which is just too cute and sweet to be denied, don't you think?"

His posture changed almost imperceptibly in response to this, but it was enough to show he was relieved. And Anzu could see why. With Mokuba's part in all of this, Kaiba was getting a sweet deal; she was practically doing him _another_ favor in exchange for the one she'd already done for him. Or so he thought.

"Fine," he said with a nod, "Two tickets for-,"

"Uh-uh, not so fast," she smilingly cut him off. "_Three_ tickets."

Kaiba stiffened slightly.

"Why?" he asked in a very deliberate tone.

"Because you're coming too, genius." She rose from her seated position, regretfully leaving the chair behind. Then before he could ask, "Because it will make your little brother happy, Kaiba. And _I_ am perfectly willing to suffer through your company for one night if that's what it will take."

The implication being of course that if _she_ was willing to make such a sacrifice, surely the little boy's own flesh and blood should rise to the challenge.

"We'll be seen together in public," he reminded her in an obvious attempt to dissuade her from what he evidently found to be a distasteful prospect.

_Nice try boss, _she thought, _but I'm over that. Mostly. _

"Occupational hazard," she glibly threw his words back at him. "Besides, everybody thinks we're together anyway, so what difference does it make at this point?"

He pursed his lips and studied her contemplatively, and Anzu tried not to be affected by his steady perusal. Unfortunately, it was a lot more difficult without the chair.

Almost unconsciously, he drew nearer bringing his heat and aroma with him and she tried very hard to get her rapidly beating heart to _slow down. _

"Do we have a deal or what?" she prodded, finding it suddenly necessary to break the silence.

"Fine," he agreed evenly, without stepping back.

"Good!" she beamed at him, "It's on Friday, so you'll have to work your magic before then. We can discuss it more tonight."

Kaiba nodded slightly, and the matter was resolved. But he was still blocking her body with his own, still looking at her, eyes slightly narrowed, mouth twisted downward in a frown.

Was there something else he wanted?

Anzu sighed. If he was going to stand there all day and look at her as if she were some particularly frustrating jigsaw puzzle, she might as well leave. She was, after all, here for Mokuba.

"Okay, well I guess we're done here then."

She moved to step around him, hesitated, and then gave into an urge that had been plaguing her since Kaiba had first arrogantly stepped into her personal space. She didn't really know what came over her, or why she had to do it but later settled for residual giddiness from sitting in the Big Foreboding Chair of Smugness as a plausible explanation.

The fact was it was instinctual. Reflexively and without conscious thought, she found her hand reaching up towards his face. It was the most natural thing in the world to flick her wrist and smooth an errant strand of hair that had fallen out of place from the rest of his bangs.

Unfortunately, Kaiba didn't seem to think so.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, irritated.

"We can't have you entering the public eye looking anything short of impeccable," she told him, blushing only faintly. She covered her embarrassment with an exaggerated wink, "Not _my _boyfriend."

He scowled and moved away. "I see you've already moved past the weeping and gnashing of teeth right into the infantile jokes phase."

"Well, despite the fact you left tabloid exposure out of the fine print when I accepted this job, I can handle it so long as my friends believe me." She smiled, "And anyway, if there's one thing you learn growing up with humor addicted parents, it's that sometimes you have to laugh at yourself."

"I wouldn't know," he assured her.

"That's because you take yourself way too seriously."

He scoffed, "Mazaki, _life _is serious."

She shook her head, "That's interesting because I distinctly recall once hearing you say life's a game."

"What's your point?"

She gave him an odd look. That was a surprisingly dumb question for a so-called genius.

"Games are fun," she explained. "They're not supposed to be serious."

"Not for amateurs," he replied. "But if you expect to win, there's no time to joke around."

_Of course not. _Anzu found herself rolling her eyes, surprised at her own efforts – it was futile to argue with Kaiba about these things. Of course, that didn't mean she was about to stop. She could be stubborn too.

"Do you remember fun?" she wanted to know. "I mean, I don't question that you were probably an odd and precocious child, but even _you_ must have experienced fun at some point in your lifetime."

At this, he raised an eyebrow. He didn't answer, but his expression approached incredulous as though he was caught half way into processing the fact that she'd actually asked such a thing.

She took advantage, "Just think about it for a second. Was there ever a moment, just one moment when you can recall feeling completely, naïvely, no-strings-attached happy and nothing else? And if there was, don't you ever miss it?"

Now _she _couldn't believe she'd asked such a thing. Once more Anzu was experiencing that recent Kaiba-assisted phenomenon where were mouth disengaged from her mind in his presence. Even so, she held her breath waiting for whatever answers he would give her. Her curiosity regarding the matter was surprising.

He almost knocked her over when he smiled in response. And not one of those mocking, condescending smiles she so frequently saw him wear, but a genuine, honest-to-goodness _smile _of amusement. His lips pulled away from his perfect teeth in a shockingly pleasant manner, and Anzu felt her knees get a little shaky when she noticed the underutilized dimple appear in his left cheek.

_Beautiful._

"I cannot believe," he said, "That you actually thought I would answer such an asinine question."

Ah, so the amusement had been at her expense. Even so, if that rare smile had been the pay-off, Anzu couldn't bring herself to care.

"I… huh?" she responded, oh-so-articulately.

"I saw the look on your face." At this point the smile became a full-fledged smirk, "You really expected me to share some_ touching_ little anecdote from my childhood."

"Nope," she shook her head. "I didn't ask for a story. Just wanted to know if you had one. There's a difference."

"Not in terms of relevance," Kaiba replied. "Although, I have to congratulate you. That's the first time in our association where you've actually been funny."

The one instance she wasn't trying to be.

"And the first time you've actually given the appearance of possessing a soul," she returned.

This time Anzu squashed her irrational impulse which involved patting his cheeks in a patronizing manner. She was growing rather irritated, past playfulness.

"Would that be the part where I observed your pathetic behavior, or when I actually pointed it out?"

"Neither," she told him, startled by the bitterness in her voice. "It was when you smiled."

He drew his brows together, "What?"

"You heard me," she stepped past him, once again prepared to leave. "The ground just might open up and swallow me for saying this, but when you actually mean it Kaiba, you have a beautiful smile."

She was too annoyed with her raving mouth to even be embarrassed by the admission and too angry at Kaiba for his _Kaiba-ness. _The way he had to ruin every single moment that approached something that even resembled friendly or just plain non-argumentative. She didn't even know why, for that split second, she had been expecting more. She didn't even know how she'd gone from smugly holding a favor over his head to waiting with bated breath to learn more about him.

What she _did _know was that she'd had about enough, and accordingly moved to exit the room without so much as a backward glance.

Of course, that's when Kaiba chose to do something completely unexpected, reaching out to take hold of her arm before she could get away.

She met his eyes with a particular nasty glare, "What?"

Kaiba's face was impassive as his icy blue gaze met her fiery one, but Anzu could have swore she witnessed a glimmer of something… _softer_ than what she usually saw in his eyes. Then, even while her anger began to ebb away against her will, the very edges of his lips quirked so faintly and so swiftly had she blinked, she'd have missed it.

"Stop flirting with me," he advised.

And Anzu was suddenly struck with the fact that he was _teasing _her. Kaiba Seto. _Teasing. _

Before she could even begin to process this new and bizarre information, he dropped her arm a split second later and turned his back to pick up his briefcase.

"Anyway, you've wasted enough of my time," his tone resumed its normal coolness as he ushered her away from the office he himself was ready to leave. "And I'm sure Mokuba must be awake by now."

"Uh… right," Anzu dazedly followed his lead, still trying to connect the dots in her head. Kaiba… teasing… arm still tingling from where his fingers had been… sadly overactive libido.

They walked down the hall together in silence, until reaching the point where they were to part ways, Kaiba delivered his parting words.

"I'd advise you to refrain from doing anything stupid in my absence," he said, "But I don't believe in miracles."

He didn't stick around for her to deliver a snappy comeback, and even if he had, there wouldn't have been one. For once, Anzu had nothing to say.

So he didn't believe in miracles. She added the information to her slowly increasing mental file on her annoying employer.

_That's funny, _she mused, _until about two minutes ago, neither did I._

The thought made her smile.

_…………………………_

**_A/N: _**_Ohmigod! Do you believe it? Our favorite couple actually dropped their adversarial roles for half a second and had something of a "moment" there! Progression, people! I swear I don't know what came over me. _

_Next chapter: The plot actually gets a boost when Kaiba and Anzu go on their pseudo-quasi-Mokuba-accompanied-"date" and are forced to play nice. Also, I watch an old Yu-Gi-Oh and deduce that the true reason why the dubbed version of Kaiba is such a big asshole isn't because he's all angsty and misunderstood. The Tool does it for his own amusement. (And mine)_


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's note: Ack! **Azurite**, what a great idea! I wish I'd thought of it myself before I planned out this chapter and couldn't find a way to fit something like that in. Curses! Dude, you'll have to make a one-shot out of that sometime, just so I can see it brought to fruition! Hehehe._

_In other news, this chapter is long you guys. Love me. _

……………………

**Chapter Eight**

The weather on Friday night, to put it simply, sucked. Dark clouds had rolled in early in the afternoon and settled for a long stay. It had been raining steadily for hours.

Anzu thought it was all rather appropriate and had thunder and lightening decided to accompany the downpour, all the better. Which wasn't to say she was having misgivings about her "date" with Kaiba. Oh no, of course not. Any misgivings she was experiencing involved her impending _"little-brother-chaperoned outing"_ with Kaiba. Their non-date. The _anti-_date.

Because really, there was nothing even remotely romantic about the evening ahead of her; she certainly wasn't going for the older of the two brothers.

Even so… Anzu sighed. _Why _had she thought this was such a fantastic idea again? Okay, she knew what her motivation was; the day at the zoo when Mokuba had wistfully expressed his wishes to have Seto spend more time with him. She had taken it upon herself to make it happen.

So why exactly _three _tickets then? It had seemed logical at the time – Mokuba had clearly wanted _her _to go with him – but the more she thought about it, the less necessary it all seemed. Had she simply made Kaiba acquire two tickets there was no question that her young charge would find his older brother a more than suitable replacement for her.

Of course, there was no escaping the obligation now that she'd broken the news to a very excited Mokuba on Monday. He was such a good kid, so eager to spend time with his "two favorite people" and have them be friends. It would be selfish to back out just because the thought of hanging out with Seto made her uncomfortable for various reasons. Some more… scintillating than others.

Things had been very tense between the two of them since their little "moment" on Monday. Kaiba had been more obnoxious than ever on the ride home, undoubtedly overcompensating for his little 'lapse' earlier. Anzu for her part, retaliated with equal fervor, annoyed with him for being disdainful of the one time he'd actually acted like a human being. Suffice it to say, there was no love lost between them. Even if she couldn't shake the memory of his smile, or the way her heart had fluttered at his teasing.

_Why did he do that anyway? _

It was the millionth time she'd asked herself since it had happened and Anzu was no closer to coming up with a suitable answer.

Before she could ponder it further, however, a familiar voice called suddenly from the other side of the door, jerking her out of her reverie.

"Knock, knock! Are you decent, Anzu?"

"Jou?" Oh, she should have known…

She yanked her door open to regard her deceptively innocent looking friend with narrowed eyes. "_Jounouchi._"

"Hey buddy," his grin was easy and charming.

"And what might you be doing here?"

She knew exactly what he was doing here, of course. To witness with his own eyes that no "funny business" would occur when Kaiba arrived. And possibly to antagonize the CEO as an added bonus.

"I just came by to drop off… uh…" he made a very big show of searching his pockets, "Um… well what do you know? Looks like I left it at home."

Now that was just _lame_.

"Uh-huh." Anzu folded her arms over her chest, "You're unbelievable."

"What?"

"_What?_" she mockingly repeated, before peering over his shoulder into the empty hallway. "So where are Honda and Yugi hiding?"

"Now why would Honda and Yugi be…" Jou trailed off at her dubious stare, dropping his gaze to the floor.

Anzu had stepped into 'no bullshit' mode the second she heard his voice and it wouldn't take long for him to crack under the pressure. While Jou did have a history of holding out the longest of all her friends when met with her thousand yard stare, he was no stranger to the repercussions should he continue to be a dumbass.

"They're, uh waiting for me at Yugi's house," he sheepishly admitted, abandoning the innocent act sooner than she'd expected. Apparently certain people _could _learn from past mistakes.

"Of course they are," Anzu's tone mellowed slightly at the confession and she stepped aside, granting access to her room. "So let me guess, you drew the shortest straw?"

"Lost the _sudden death_ round of rock, paper, scissors."

She rolled her eyes, but charitably left it at that. Jou may have caved in about his true reasons for being here, but only because he knew pretensions pissed her off. Now they were on equal ground and he'd stubbornly defend the rationale that he'd initially denied. Truth be told, it was easier to just let it go… for now, anyway.

Originally, all three of the guys had insisted on being present when her employer came to collect her. Since the tabloid incident they were convinced that while she herself was innocent, Kaiba's role in the photo was colored with intentions more questionable. So even though she'd made herself clear when she'd said _none_ of them were to be there, the suspicious trio probably thought the presence of only _one _of them was some sort of compromise.

_Typical._

"You're wasting your time, you know." She warily studied her friend as he made himself comfortable on her bed. "Kaiba finds me about as attractive as a hang-nail."

Jou responded by studying her outfit pointedly, "That's what you're wearing?"

"Uh, yes." Anzu glanced down at her outfit nervously.

She hadn't wanted to wear anything _too _dressy, but under the circumstances, she didn't want to embarrass Mokuba by looking too casual either. She'd finally chosen an informal navy blue jean skirt, but paired it with a soft white sweater and the tan-colored suede boots the guys had chipped in to buy her for Christmas.

"What's wrong with it?" she wanted to know.

"You're wearing a skirt," he explained. "Now that perve is going to spend the whole night checking out your legs. To say nothing of that sweater which happens to be a little low cut don't ya think?"

"What?" Anzu glared at him, indignantly. "Okay, A) my breasts are _completely _covered and B) I believe I officially declared moratorium on all discussion of my girl parts after you guys found my _Victoria's Secret _collection last month."

"And I maintain that chicks don't buy that stuff unless they want it to be seen," Jou shot back.

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it?" he leaned back on her pillows, lazily propping his shaggy head up with his hands. "Are you wearing any of it right now?"

"That is none of your business," she snapped, aggravated. "I am now extending the conversational ban to anything pertaining to said girl parts, including what happens to be covering them."

"Oh whatever," he made a very big show of rolling his eyes. "Man, if you can't discuss your undergarments with your closest friends, who _can _you discuss them with?"

Anzu chose to ignore the comment, eager as she was to drop the subject. This was one of the problems with having all guys for friends – they didn't understand the concept of taboo subjects especially when it involved certain 'girls only' topics not meant to be discussed with boys. Jou and Honda had this screwball idea that she, as their pal, was some sort of free pass to the secret world of women. And apparently now their underwear. And _Kaiba _was the pervert?

Hell, come to think of it _she_ was a lot more perverted then the teenage CEO and _that_ was truly disturbing.

"Look Jou," with a heavy sigh, she moved to take a seat on the bed next to him. "I want you to know that I appreciate your concern, in spite of your really awkward way of showing it. But I think you're missing one very important fact here."

"Oh yeah?" he looked skeptical, "And what's that?"

"Well even if we're to believe this insane idea of yours that Kaiba sees me as anything other than an unappealing nuisance," here she paused to make a face, "And even if we accept the completely absurd notion that this outing is a _date_ of all things, you'd still have to take into consideration that Mokuba is coming along."

"And thank God for that," Jou noted.

"Right," she rolled her eyes. "But do you get it now? I mean, what the hell do you think is going to happen between my _employer _and me under the constant supervision of his 8 year old brother?"

"I guess I see your point," he relented, sulkily folding his arms across his chest. "But if it's all the same to you, I stand by my suspicions and, you know, all around dislike for your stupid boss."

"I not only respect that," Anzu said, "I will gladly join you in the dislike part."

"Atta girl," Jou grinned at that, patting her shoulder with approval. "So when is old Moneybags getting here anyway? He'd better not be late."

"He won't be," Anzu assured him, "If nothing else, the guy is terminally punctual."

"Except when he's oversleeping," Jou pointed out.

"Hah, yeah."

They shared a laugh at Kaiba's expense and for all the mean-spiritedness of the activity Anzu couldn't bring herself to feel _too_ badly about it. It helped her relax, and more importantly reminded her that he was in fact the enemy. It would be good to remember that when he actually showed up and her baser instincts began to insist that he was desirable, which she knew from experience they would.

It was irritating to admit that her friends were more perceptive than they knew. The three of them were right to question certain intentions, but suspicious of the wrong person. It was _her_ they needed to worry about.

……………………

"What are you so worried about?" Mokuba studied his brother from the passenger side of the Porsche. "We'll go to her door, she'll answer it, and then we'll all leave. It's not a big deal, Seto."

"I know that," Kaiba replied sourly. "I just don't know why you continue to insist that we get out of the car, into the rain when a simple phone call will have her meeting us out here in a matter of seconds."

"You don't know anything about… what did Anzu call it? Oh yeah, _social etiquette_," he unbuckled his seatbelt. "It's rude to wait in the car when you've invited somebody to go somewhere. You have to actually go to their door – it's the polite thing to do."

"Who cares about polite?" Seto shook his head, "It's just Mazaki."

Mokuba rolled his eyes, "You said you were going to be nice to her."

"I said I'd be civil."

"Well fine," the boy replied. "But that still means you have to go to her door, so come on. We don't have all night."

"Watch the smart mouth," Kaiba said automatically, even while he slipped out of his seatbelt and reached for the umbrella he'd brought along.

"But I've learned from the best, Seto," Mokuba pointed out with a tone of childlike innocence.

Seto scowled – his brother was becoming too smart for his own good. He may be a nice kid, but he still had that Kaiba intelligence.

"Yeah well, do as I say not as I do."

Mokuba laughed. "You sure are cranky tonight."

Kaiba grunted in response; of _course _he was cranky. Not only was he about to waste an evening watching some hack play cards with a room full of gullible losers, _Mazaki _was tagging along.

Of course she would no doubt look hot, smile a lot, get along famously with Mokuba and give him about a million other reasons _not _to hate her. And he would have to sit near her, trying not to think of how he'd almost genuinely _liked _her for a moment in his office when she'd said his smile was beautiful.

Not nice, not cute, not attractive. _Beautiful. _Nobody had ever, in his entire life, used _that _adjective to describe him. The connotations were too reverent, too kind. And coming from _her_, it was unfathomable. Because they didn't like each other – he made her angry contrary to her pleasant disposition and she provoked him like no other.

But for one moment, a split second, she had acknowledged something about him to be _beautiful _and he had felt something a little too close to gratitude for comfort. He'd also found himself briefly addressing her without a trace of hostility. Flirting, even. Truly appalling behavior.

And the worst part was that it wasn't even because she was a pretty girl; it was as simple as her easy sincerity. How the truth escaped her without any premeditation – it was natural for her. And it had made him want to be nice to her for that rare uninhibited instant. Which was enough to make him sick.

Luckily he'd recovered, easily slipping back into his adversarial role with Mazaki and as the week dragged on he noted with satisfaction that his dislike for her hadn't gone anywhere. Of course, annoyingly enough it had a new companion. Because those somewhat… _less-than-hostile _feelings towards her weren't about to leave either try as he might to push them away.

"Um, Seto?" Mokuba's confused voice pulled him out of his reflection and he was suddenly aware that he was staring blankly at Anzu's front door.

"_What_?"

"I don't think glaring at the door will make it spring open," now the boy's tone was amused, "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to ring the bell."

He gave his brother a rather unfriendly sideways glance, and Mokuba laughed, patting his arm.

"Don't worry, Seto, I'll keep this between us."

Kaiba forced himself to relax at his brother's good-natured teasing. It wouldn't do to take his foul mood out on Mokuba when the kid was so obviously excited about all of this. The last thing he wanted to do was spoil his fun. So he smiled wryly to show he wasn't mad and very deliberately reached out to ring the bell.

Seconds later the door opened to reveal Anzu, and Kaiba was annoyed to find that she looked better than he'd expected her to. She was wearing her hair down, and her sweater made her ivory skin appear luminous. Not to mention the fact that it fit her very well, and her legs looked particularly nice in those tights. And of course, she smelled nice – like vanilla and cinnamon and all things warm and inviting. How aggravating.

She stepped back, ushering them inside and out of the rain and they readily complied.

"Hello handsome," she greeted Mokuba happily with a hug once the door was closed. Then sparing Kaiba a glance, "And um, sub-par."

"Sub-what?" Mokuba appeared confused and Anzu blushed slightly.

"Sub-nothing," she cleared her throat and met Seto's eyes. "What I meant to say was, hello. You, uh, look nice Kaiba."

She looked him up and down, her flush deepening. From beautiful to sub-par to nice. But he could tell she meant the last sentiment, if the way her eyes remained affixed on his chest for a bit longer than was polite was any indication. He wanted to be smug in his reply, making sure she knew he'd caught her looking and found it amusing but Mokuba's presence beside him encouraged better behavior. Civility.

"You ready to go?" he asked, brusquely.

_Close enough._

"What's the hurry, Kaibsy?" a masculine voice taunted from behind her, "The show doesn't start until seven."

Seto snapped his gaze over to meet the source and was rather vexed to find Anzu's idiot friend Jounouchi hovering over her shoulder. Of all the losers the young CEO knew from school, here was the one he held in the most contempt casually hanging out in Mazaki's home. Great.

He gave the halfwit a scathing once over, "I thought I smelled wet dog."

"Must be left over from your latest romantic conquest," Jounouchi returned, "You probably should have showered before you came over, huh?"

Seto was about to come back with a crack about Jou recognizing his _sister's_ perfume, when Anzu cut in.

"Eww!" she slapped her hands over Mokuba's ears and glared at her friend. "Kids in the room, Jou!"

"Ah come on, sweetheart you're not _that _young," a middle aged woman who looked like Anzu in a very disconcerting way, suddenly appeared followed by a tall man with salt and pepper hair.

Seto rolled his eyes. Now it was a party. He wondered who'd be the next to make a smooth entrance. Mouto? Honda? He was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the situation as various loved ones of this girl he was determined to despise paraded into the room eyeing him with interest. Was it time to leave yet?

"Manners Anzu," Mrs. Mazaki addressed her daughter and Kaiba noticed that the woman had possibly the nicest voice he'd ever heard in his life. It was dulcet and serene, resonating placidly. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"If I must," Anzu responded with a measure of annoyance which Seto found interesting. "Kaiba, Mokuba, I present my parents, and vice versa. You all know Jou."

"It's Eri," Anzu's mother took his hand and shook it firmly, "I have to say Mr. Kaiba, our household hasn't been the same since my daughter's come to work for you."

He really didn't know how to respond to that, although he was certain some semblance of manners were required considering the very significant look his brother was currently shooting him. He was working up to a probably more bored than would be considered courteous, 'I see' when Mrs. Mazaki took it upon herself to spare him the trouble.

"I've got freshly made Hot Chocolate in the kitchen," she fluidly turned her attention to Mokuba, "Would you like some before you leave?"

_No, _thought Seto, _Say no so we can get the hell out of here._

"Sure!" Mokuba beamed up at the woman and took her offered hand while she led him towards the kitchen.

She stopped briefly on the way to hand the cheesy 'World's Greatest Dad' mug she's been carrying to her husband. He smiled fondly, kissing her quickly.

And Kaiba had officially had about enough of the whole scene. Everything was so… picturesque. An attractive couple with their cozy home and contentment, drinking Hot Chocolate on a rainy day and being all affectionate. It was difficult to be around for reasons both cynical and… well, hard to explain. Painful to recall. Pointless to dwell on.

"Kaiba?"

He looked over to find Anzu watching him closely.

"What?"

"I'm just going to run upstairs to grab my jacket and then we can get out of here, okay?"

There was something in her tone that suggested she was concerned, though he was certain it wasn't for his benefit. She was obviously uncomfortable having him around her family.

"Fine."

"I'll be right back," she smiled faintly and then left him with Jounouchi and her father, the latter of which seized the opportunity.

Mr. Mazaki cast a stern look in his direction and Kaiba was surprised to note that he was looking directly into his eyes; the man matched his own height almost exactly, which was no small feat considering the way he towered over most of the people in his acquaintance.

"So…" he followed the look with an authoritative tone, "What are your intentions towards my daughter?"

_Intentions? _

Kaiba narrowed his eyes; he couldn't believe this man was actually trying to intimidate him. Well, in a sense, he supposed he could. Because this type of thing was apparently common - fathers being very protective of their teenaged daughters. But he'd never actually been in a situation where he was confronted with it. For one, he was Kaiba Seto and secondly, he was _Kaiba Seto. _He commanded respect from people twice his age and more. _He _was the boss. Also, he didn't make a habit of meeting girls' fathers.

All things considered, this was rather ridiculous, especially since he didn't even _have _any intentions towards Mazaki. Oh sure, he had _thoughts _that were admittedly less-than-appropriate and _ideas _he would never actually act on, but _intentions_? How insulting.

But before he could open his mouth to deliver an appropriately snide response, Mr. Mazaki cracked a grin.

"I'm joking of course," he informed Kaiba. "I've always wanted to say that."

_Joking?_

"Aw, Mr. Mazaki, you should have given him the chance to answer." Jounouchi shook his head, "Now we'll never know if he actually intends to do away with our Anzu and wear her skin as a trench coat."

"What are you even doing here?" Kaiba's tone was lazy, but his gaze was hard, "Somewhere a game of _Duck, Duck, Goose_ is missing its star player."

"Right, and somewhere a puppy _isn't_ being kicked."

"I could rectify the situation," Seto assured him with a pointed look.

"Rectify this," Jou made a rude gesture, apparently out of fresh material.

"Gentlemen, please," Mr. Mazaki cut in calmly, "A little dignity. Let's save the bloodshed for somewhere my carpets aren't at risk."

"No," Anzu suddenly appeared on the stairwell, beige jacket in hand. "I did _not _just hear talk of bloodshed mere seconds after I left the room."

Kaiba watched her descend the rest of the steps, relieved of all things to see _her. _It was obviously the company.

"I think," Jou piped up unnecessarily, "That it was actually closer to a minute."

"Semantics," Anzu rolled her eyes as she shrugged into the jacket, "You ready to get the hell out of here, Kaiba?"

"Ready would be a severe understatement," he assured her in low tones.

She smiled at that, and turned to give their audience a pointed look. "You see that? The two of you have served to make our guest uncomfortable – kudos."

"And I didn't even have to bring out the shotgun," Mr. Mazaki joked. Or at least… Seto _thought_ he was joking. The man was perfectly deadpan.

"Your ride's leaving Mokuba," Anzu called to the kitchen, "Get on board or miss the boat."

"Coming!" the boy rushed exuberantly into the room with bright eyes and a Hot Chocolate mustache which made the corner of Seto's lips twitch in spite of himself.

A glance to the right unfortunately revealed that Mazaki hadn't missed his reaction, judging by the way her eyes suddenly became really soft and how her smile adopted a somewhat sentimental quality.

_Damnit!_

Seto responded by coolly withdrawing his gaze only to find it accidentally refocused on Anzu's covered chest. He quickly looked away but Jou, who'd been observing him resolutely since he arrived, had noticed and jumped on the opportunity to be provoking.

"Whoa, whoa!" he cried, "Eyes above the neckline, Kaiba!"

The reaction was immediate in the room – Anzu blushed, her father's easy countenance became reproachful, her mother smiled with amusement and Mokuba just looked confused.

If it wasn't for his unfailing self-restraint and the fact he never hit anybody who didn't attack him first, Seto would have punched Jounouchi right there. His other impulse was to calmly turn around and leave without a backward glance, but under the circumstances it wouldn't be appropriate. Instead, he did the mental equivalent of sitting on his hands, and glared scornfully at his opponent.

"Believe me," he said disdainfully, "I'm happy to leave the ogling of hapless girls to you and the other hormone-drenched bricks you call friends."

"Hey, I saw you looking," Jou defended his prior observation.

"I was always aware that you're the mental equivalent of a particularly inept block of wood, but now I see your eyesight is defective as well." Kaiba sneered, "Now let me rephrase that in idiot speak so _you_ can understand too; you're as dumb as a sack of hammers, and blind."

He didn't wait for a reaction; giving into his impulse to turn around and leave he grabbed Anzu's arm, steering her along with him, "Let's _go _Mazaki."

"Um bye mom, dad, Jou," she called over her shoulder while she was dragged outside, "Don't wait up!"

"It was very nice meeting you," Mokuba said politely as Kaiba grabbed _his _hand, "Thanks for the Hot Chocolate!"

They left the warmth of the house for the coolness of the rain outside, and Seto despite his anger _did_ have the sense to stop briefly on the porch to open his umbrella. After all, he had no desire to arrive at the theatre looking like a drowned rat.

Anzu drew closer to him, slender hand slipping through his arm to keep steady with his brisk pace. And Kaiba tried very hard to ignore her presence next to him and the warmth spreading through his body from where she gripped the inside of his elbow.

Why did she have to _touch _him? And why _the hell_ did she have to smell so good?

He glared down at her and she turned to meet his gaze unabashedly.

"You're getting soft, Kaiba."

_Uh, not really._

"What makes you say that?" he tried to keep the acidity out of his tone for Mokuba's benefit.

"_Hapless_?" she raised an eyebrow, "I think that's the nicest thing you've ever called me."

His brother looked up sharply from beneath his own umbrella and Seto bit back the snide remark he'd been prepared to deliver. He'd promised to be civil towards Anzu and Mokuba had sensed the moment he'd been ready to step out of the role. The kid really knew him far too well.

He sighed instead, opening the passenger side door of the Porsche they'd arrived at. "Just get in the car, Mazaki."

"And now he's opening doors for me," she turned to look at Mokuba in exaggerated shock, "Did you put him up to this?"

"Nope," the younger boy shook his head, and then deftly snapping his umbrella closed dived into the backseat, leaving the front for Anzu.

She easily slid into her seat, despite the somewhat restrictive skirt she was wearing and Kaiba was once again reminded of that natural grace she possessed. Even if her mouth ran away from her, or her manner was somewhat less than refined, she always seemed to have perfect control of her _body…_

He slammed the door shut behind her with more force than necessary and pushed his mind out of the gutter as he briskly moved to the driver's side of the vehicle. He was becoming almost perpetually annoyed with himself where _she _was concerned. It was officially _beyond_ ridiculous.

Luckily, there was a respectable amount of distance between them inside the car and her skirt reached her knees, so he was spared the distracting sight of her thighs.

"I have an explanation for your brother's behavior," Anzu looked over the seat at Mokuba once they were on the road, mischief in her tone.

Mokuba, Seto was grudgingly satisfied to note, looked pleased.

"Yeah?"

"Yes," she seriously confirmed. "You see, in preparation for tonight, I did a little research into the dubious world of magic and wouldn't you know it, I came across the perfect spell."

"Really?" the boy grinned, "What kind of spell?"

She paused for dramatic effect and Seto rolled his eyes. No doubt something suitably ridiculous would follow. (He was right.)

"A personality transplant," she declared ominously, and Mokuba laughed.

"So who was the donor?"

"Well," Anzu grinned, "Put it to you this way: Somewhere a known proper gentleman is viciously insulting his beloved wife."

"He must have suddenly gained the brain capacity to realize how insipid she is," Seto curtly cut in.

"Right about the same time you got his manners, right big brother?"

"That was the punch line, yes."

"Which would mean you're joking now too!" Anzu pointed out, happily. "I take it back. The spell was a total failure. The body snatchers got to him first!"

The traitorous youngster and his babysitter laughed heartily at his expense, and Seto could tell it was going to be a very long night.

……………………

"Is that… gold lamé?" Anzu looked closely at the stage where their entertainer for the evening, on his third change of outfit, returned from behind the curtain.

"Ohmigod, it _is_ gold lamé!" she noted with some horror, "_Ew_! Tacky!"

"A guy who pulls rabbits out of a top hat for a living is wearing something tacky," Kaiba commented dryly, "Shocking."

Anzu found herself actually smiling appreciatively at his sarcasm, probably because he'd been behaving tolerably for the duration of the evening. They were currently two hours into their "outing" and he had yet to act like a total asshole. Which was obviously due to Mokuba's presence, if the way he looked at his little brother every time it appeared he was going to say something obnoxious was any indication.

Even so, in many respects things weren't going as poorly as she'd anticipated. There was the way he'd refrained from being rude to her parents, for one. He'd been stiff and rather silent, of course, but not rude. Plus, the two of them hadn't exchanged a single vitriolic word for the entirety of their time together. Seto had been stoic and he refused to join Mokuba and herself in their lighthearted banter, but again, he wasn't awful either. And, speaking of the younger Kaiba - he was having a great time which in itself made the whole deal worthwhile.

But in other ways, things were as terrible as she'd imagined they'd be. Because Kaiba had never looked hotter than he did tonight. Seriously, she had almost collapsed when he'd arrived at her doorstep earlier and for one insane lust-filled second she'd wished it _was_ a real date.

He'd brought his presence with him, and the gray of his sweater highlighted the smoky tones in his eyes, and his lashes were so ridiculously thick and heavy and he smelled like rain and expensive cologne. It was all too much on it's own without having to deal with the way his hair fell across his forehead so perfectly, or how broad his shoulders looked in her doorway.

She wasn't doing too well now either since he'd discarded his trench coat shortly after they arrived at the theatre. Now she could see all of the gray cashmere sweater he was wearing and the material was so soft-looking it was an exercise in self-restraint to resist touching it. Plus, it fit him so well she could see the outline of his chest beneath it – a chest she knew from experience had absolutely no give to it. The contrast of his firm muscles against the soft material would no doubt feel very nice should she reach out and…

Anzu cut the thought off before she could finish it, determined to get control of her raging hormones. Really, she was almost a grown-up. She could handle sharing space with an unspeakably hot, rich, priggish jerk without getting all hot and bothered. She could ignore his blatant sex appeal and remain impervious to it. She wasn't so hard up she couldn't get through an evening with the gorgeous older brother of the sweet kid she was paid to look after without dying of repressed attraction, right?

_Right!_

"He does a little more than retrieve rabbits from his hat," Anzu told Kaiba. "I mean, he walked through a wall."

"A simple matter of strategically placed mirrors and diversion," he assured her. "With the right materials I could do it myself."

She rolled her eyes, "You buy that Mokuba?"

The boy, sitting between them cheerfully munching on licorice, nodded earnestly. "Of course. Seto can do anything."

Kaiba smirked and Anzu gave him an appraising look, "_Anything_?"

_Oh God, that sounded way too suggestive. Smite me!_

Raising his eyebrow at the innuendo, he returned her searching look. "Of course."

She swallowed hard, and quickly returned her gaze to the stage where the scantily clad assistant was stepping into a large basket. The magician was armed with an array of large swords and sliced easily through a watermelon with one of them to prove its sharpness.

Mokuba sucked in his breath, "Cool!"

"You ain't seen nothing yet, sweetness," she drawled and he chuckled softly.

On stage, the assistant was now completely tucked inside the container and intense music started playing as the magician began stabbing the swords through it. Mokuba watched, riveted and to Anzu's eagle eye, worried. She patted his arm gently.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Kaiba leaning back in the seat, making himself comfortable. He folded his arms across his chest and stared at the unfolding scene with disinterest.

"Trapdoor," he muttered, unmoved.

"Actually," she watched another sword smoothly slice into the basket, "I think the woman inside is guiding the swords to the other side. The basket seems a little too small for the trapdoor trick to work smoothly."

"An interesting theory," he said evenly, stretching his legs out in front of him. "I'm willing to test it out if you'd like to wear a slutty costume and crawl inside a box. It would be a rather simple matter to acquire a collection of swords."

"Nice try, but you're not getting rid of me that easily." Then as an afterthought, "And you'll have to do a lot better than that to get me into a _slutty costume._"

"Oh I don't know," he examined his fingernails, "I doubt it would take much coaxing. A certain skirt comes to mind…"

Anzu ducked her head in a futile attempt to hide her blush. Ah yes, the skirt that had turned out to make for rather poor kindling. She couldn't _believe_ he'd brought that up. And was she crazy or were they kind of, sort of… flirting? No, no couldn't be. Well, okay _she _was flirting, but Kaiba? Never.

She scolded herself for her own behavior, but couldn't really blame herself. He was being… decent. And sexy. And she had an inherently playful nature which always wanted to flirt with cute boys – she couldn't help it, she'd inherited it from her mother. It was genetic.

_So there._

"That skirt was perfectly classy," she informed him. "Except for when I was sitting down."

Kaiba snickered in response, not rudely, but certainly not kindly either.

"Seto," Mokuba looked up at him reproachfully, "You're kind of ruining an intense moment."

Anzu bit back her own laughter as she returned her attention to the stage to find all of the swords sticking into the basket from every which direction, a veritable pincushion. The magician was very slowly beginning to remove them.

"Relax Mokuba," Kaiba advised. "We already know that the woman's unharmed."

"How can you be certain?" the boy wanted to know, "What if something went wrong?"

"Look at the swords," he replied, "Do you see any blood?"

"No," Mokuba admitted, "They're clean."

"Huh." Kaiba leaned back in his seat, "You don't say."

"Looks like your big brother knows everything too," Anzu commented drolly, in response to his smug demeanor.

"Of course," the CEO replied without a trace of irony.

The lovely assistant chose that exact second to smilingly step out of the basket unharmed, and as the crowd cheered, Kaiba smirked arrogantly as though the applause was for his benefit.

_What a jerk._

Anzu watched him until she caught his eye before withdrawing her own with a deliberate air of disgust and he snickered again. Since when did she amuse him so much?

She shook her head; it was pointless to ponder these things, just like it was pointless to wonder about the way he'd teased her that split second. He was too hard to read, didn't wear his heart on his sleeve the way she did. Besides, the more she thought about him, the more his torso in that sweater would sneak into her mind. And that was the last thing she needed to be thinking about right now. Or ever.

She made a point to pay attention to the show, and didn't even look in his direction until the magician had wrapped things up. He performed a levitation as encore (which Mokuba found very exciting, but Kaiba skeptically noted how the assistant had changed into a long flowing dress for the number to cover the rising platform which was what was really lifting her into the air) and then, after gracious thanks, took his gold lamé-ed self and his equally tacky assistant backstage. The host came out moments later to thank everybody again for coming and as the night's dramatic theme music cued up again, the house lights came on and people slowly began to leave.

"That was awesome!" Mokuba exclaimed, jumping from his seat and looking happily at his brother and babysitter.

Anzu smiled, and stretched as she rose, "It _was_ pretty cool."

She found herself joining Mokuba in watching Seto expectantly for his input, but he said nothing as he smoothly stood up. His pants, she noticed, were miraculously unwrinkled after being seated for so long, and he didn't bother stretching as he reached for his trench coat and slid into it. He looked perfect. Stylish and sexy and uncaring. She wanted to touch him.

His eyes fixed on her with an expression notably deeper than their trademark blue intensity and for a panicked moment she had the insane notion that he could read her thoughts. Then he blinked and looked away and she allowed her shoulders to slump with relief.

"Let's go," he announced moving towards the exit and she followed without resistance.

She told herself the weakness in her knees was from sitting for so long, but of course knew better. If he'd looked at her that way and asked her to put on a slutty outfit and slip into a box so he could stick swords through it, she was alarmed to admit she would have done it. She would have done anything.

……………………

"So Kaiba," Anzu said in a hushed voice as they drove home, "That wasn't _completely _unbearable was it?"

He glanced in the rearview mirror at his brother, asleep in the backseat, faint smile playing about his lips. He'd fallen asleep shortly after they'd gotten into the car, tired out from all the excitement and lulled to sleep by the quiet. Plus, it _was_ two hours past his normal bedtime.

Mokuba had fun though, and it had been obvious to Kaiba how pleased he was to have him there. That alone, made the evening a success. He was glad he'd done it, truthfully. Not that he'd admit ever admit it, of course.

"Not completely," he said, "In spite of your presence."

"Oh right back atcha sweetheart," she returned and Kaiba was caught by the playfulness of the moment.

She'd been doing that all night, flirting lightheartedly and teasing good-naturedly. He'd realized shortly into the evening that this was Mazaki Anzu in her most natural state. Cheerful, pleasant, charmingly mischievous and very outgoing. She energetically joked around with Mokuba and made an effort to include Seto when she could. She enjoyed herself and tried to make sure everybody else did too.

Kaiba was used to her defensive, annoyed, and on edge but he knew now that was just one side of her. Specifically, the side he was so good at drawing out.

"Anyway about tonight," she glanced at him nervously, "I was thinking that we should do it again."

"What?" he took his eyes off the road long enough to shoot her a dubious look. "I don't-,"

"Well hear me out before you shoot it down," she interrupted him, "I mean Mokuba needs to get out and do more fun things like a normal kid. And I think it would be good for him, and _you, _if you spent a little less time at the office and had fun _with_ him."

"Mazaki, need I remind you that I'm very busy and -,"

"Very busy and don't have time for frivolous pursuits," she cut in, rolling her eyes. "But what about Mokuba? Don't you have time for _him_?"

He narrowed his eyes. He didn't like what she was implying here, nor did he care for her suggestions that she knew what Mokuba _needed. _And he especially resented the way it appeared she was using his little brother to manipulate him. Because Kaiba knew what was good for him, and he simply _would not _allow the boy to become a bargaining chip. The two of them had been doing fine for years and long before _she_ came around. They were a team.

"I take care of my brother," he said in a very firm, warning tone.

"I know you do," her own tone softened considerably, "I didn't mean to suggest otherwise."

Kaiba nodded, unable to retort cruelly to the statement and taken aback by the gentleness in her voice. She turned her gaze to the window, he continued to watch the road and they fell into silence once more.

What was happening here? Since when did the two of them occupy this vehicle without the steady company of their ever-present hostility?

It had to be Mokuba's presence, asleep or otherwise, he had to be responsible for their unspoken cease fire. The boy was after all the only thing they really shared in common. And their typical behavior would hurt him and neither wished for that. It was a suitable explanation and the only one that didn't vex him.

"Would you at least entertain the possibility?" she asked, disrupting the stillness again.

Kaiba thought about it. He had to admit, she had a point about spending more time with his brother, and he knew the kid liked Anzu a lot. But, he _was _busy and he _did _have more important things to do. He'd hired Mazaki for that exact reason, so Mokuba could still do fun things and he could focus on work.

Mokuba stirred slightly in the back seat and Seto glanced in the rearview mirror again to find him still with that smile on his face… an unconscious guilt trip. Great.

"We'll see." he finally agreed, pulling into her driveway.

"Good enough," she decided, unfastening her seatbelt without a hitch. Then she turned to face him with an almost… _shy_ expression. "Um, Kaiba?"

"What is it now?"

"Could you… I mean, would you walk me to my door?"

_What?_

Okay, things were officially getting a little _too _cozy in here. He'd endured her parents, and a stupid magician, and her increasing attractiveness. He had been forced to deal with _Jounouchi _of all things. He'd even refrained from putting her in her place numerous times throughout the course of the evening.

But to be expected to walk her to her door? Was she kidding him? How _pedestrian_.

He felt his usual scornful glare slipping back into place, "No."

She narrowed her eyes, "Then at least give me your umbrella. It's pouring rain out there."

"No."

"Huh," she shook her head. "I knew we were getting along too well. I was wondering when Kaiba-the-prick would make his triumphant return. Welcome back, asshat."

He looked down his nose at her, "You're still inside my car."

"Observant."

"Get out."

Yeah, he was starting to get sick of her too.

"Not until you provide me a way of getting inside without getting soaking wet," she defied him and Kaiba sighed.

He looked back at his brother who was stirring again, gritted his teeth, and seizing his umbrella with one hand reached for the door with the other. He noticed Anzu's somewhat smug smile as he circled the vehicle and seethed inwardly.

_That's it. _

There was no way he was going to let her win this round. It would be unforgivable, particularly considering all the victories she'd been stealing lately.

When he came around to her side, Mazaki let herself out of the Porsche and into the protection provided by the parasol. Seto held it over her for a few brief moments, allowing her to remain dry for an instant. Then without warning he abruptly wrenched it away, leaving her exposed to the elements. The downpour had become so heavy she was drenched in a matter of seconds. Payback.

Anzu shrieked the instant she was bombarded by rain, startled by the action. She stood dumbly for a moment, staring regretfully at her sopping clothing, pushing wet bangs out of her eyes. But she recovered remarkably well once she realized she was soaked through and very calmly stepped back under the umbrella.

"I cannot believe you," she snapped, with a menacing glare.

He smirked, "Can't you?"

"You're right, I _can _believe you; you're evil." Then a certain _look_ entered her eyes, "But I can be evil too."

She proved it by lunging at him suddenly, throwing her arms around his waist and knocking the umbrella to the side. Kaiba fell back slightly, temporarily immobile from both the shocking sensation of her arms around him and the coolness of the sudden splash of rain.

Absently, he was indignant at the abuse his designer wardrobe was currently enduring, but he couldn't quite focus on that under the circumstances. Not when there was a very wet, very curvy girl pressed flush against him, with no apparent inclination to let go in the near future.

He looked down to find her grinning up at him, hair plastered to her face, cheeks flushed, eyes impossibly bright. Little droplets of water clung to her eyelashes like tiny crystals and he was unexpectedly struck by the fact that she was beautiful.

Yes, he'd previously acknowledged her pulchritude in many ways before this; attractive, pretty, hot, etc. But her _beauty _had never been more vivid than this moment, and he was surprised by his sudden inability to obey his mind and push her away from him. He was even more alarmed to find himself slipping his arms around her waist, an automatic, thoughtless reaction.

"Now we're both soaked," she spoke finally, a little breathless, bringing him back to earth.

"You'll pay for this, Mazaki," he was pleased to find he could still sound intimidating.

"Maybe I'm paying for it right now," she cryptically replied and Seto noticed she was looking at his lips.

Was she considering kissing him?

"Not nearly enough," he told her, eyes drifting to _her _lips.

They were soft and red with little traces of glitter peaking through the raindrops from her fading lip-gloss. Was _he_ considering kissing _her_? He was horrified to find that he was past the consideration stage; his head was moving of its own accord towards hers.

_Stop! _He ordered himself, _don't be a fool!_

But her arms were sliding up from his waist to the back of his neck, pulling him closer and his hands were sliding towards the small of her back. His brain was very sternly issuing commands for him to retreat but his rebelling body refused to listen. The distance was rapidly disappearing between them, the heat of her skin cutting through the cold rain to warm his face, her breath on his cheek, her lips mere inches from his own and -

His eyes were assaulted by a beam of light seconds before they drifted closed and she blinked in time with him. Then their eyes met and they sprung apart instantaneously.

_Shit!_

Kaiba looked towards the light source – the porch lamp – and found Anzu's front door opening to reveal her mother in plaid pajama pants and a sweater.

"I thought that was you out here, sweetie," she called from the doorway, "What are you maniacs doing standing out in the rain?"

"Uh," Anzu glanced guiltily at Seto and quickly looked away, a violent blush darkening her wet cheeks, "We were… well, uh Kaiba was walking me to the door when a… a gust of wind knocked the umbrella out of his hands."

"A gust of wind?" Eri's tone was skeptically amused.

"Yes," Anzu nodded several times, "A gust of wind – it was very strong and unexpected, and really… uh freakish. It took us completely by surprise, you know, we uh, didn't really know what was happening and it… it was just one of those fluky forces of nature. Yep. Total coincidence. Accidental. A _mistake._"

He caught the double meaning.

Her mother crossed her arms, "I see."

Kaiba looked away, irritated with himself, Mrs. Mazaki, her daughter, the whole situation really. He'd almost kissed her. She'd almost kissed him. They'd almost kissed. _What_ had he been thinking? From intense dislike, to grudging tolerance, to _beautiful, _to an almost kiss. It was a disaster.

"Right, Okay then." Anzu turned to pick up the umbrella from the ground and thrust it into Seto's hands. "Well, okay. Thanks for tonight Kaiba, drive safe, I'll uh, see you Monday, bye!"

And before he could even think of responding she'd already sprinted up the driveway, past her mother and into the safety of her house.

Which left Kaiba in the very uncomfortable position of being soaking wet, annoyed, and wondering just where _the hell _his logical, tactical, _sane _mind had wandered off to.

Whatever the case, it was high time he got it back. Now.

……………………

_A/N: Next chapter, more tabloid fun and Kaiba and Anzu have a… competition of sorts. Also, Mr. and Mrs. Mazaki are amused. Again. Some more. I'll see you there!_


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's notes:_ _Auugh! Death to University! So here's the deal guys and gals: I'm a bitch today. Life stressful. Leg Broken. (Because of my own rush seeking stupidity, and let this be a lesson to all you budding adrenaline junkies out there. "It seemed like a good idea at the time" will become an accompanying statement to all manners of injury and the truly absurd explanations for how you've attained them if you don't stop now! It's too late for me, but it isn't for you!) So be nice! Don't make me come up there!_

_Ahem. But I'm not all doom and gloom – I wanted to thank everybody whose been sticking around patiently waiting on this update for ten thousand years. You're all awesomely awesome! I would kiss each and every one of you if I could. xxoo As for the rating up-age… well, this chapter has some language and innuendo that I want to be safe about, so… yeah. Good times… _

………………………

**Chapter Nine**

Anzu hadn't woken up with a hangover since she was 13.

It had been a nightmare born of her first experimentation with alcohol which she remembered all too well. With Jounouchi's help, she'd put away more vodka than any two kids their age should have even been within sniffing distance of.

Jou had pilfered the goods from his freezer at home - a remnant from his dad's birthday celebration – and snuck it over to Anzu's house. Honda was away with his family at the time, and neither of them would have even considered involving innocent little Yugi in such debauchery. So after some protest on her part and a little provocation from her bold friend, Jou and Anzu sat down on her bed and endeavored to find out for themselves just what the hell the big deal was about alcohol. And lived to regret it.

Mrs. Mazaki found them together in her daughter's bedroom long after the effects of the liquor had been fun; Jou lying down on the floor trying to get the world to stop spinning, and Anzu tearfully cleaning up her own vomit with thick, drunken movements.

In the end, the discipline her parents doled out for the incident was bad, but it paled in comparison to the pain she'd been slammed with the next day. Jou and Anzu had gone far and beyond moderation and seriously overdone it; she couldn't remember feeling shittier at any time in her short life. It had been enough to put her off alcohol for years to come. There was nothing worse than waking up to a huge pile of punishment-style chores and a brain-searing hangover.

Well… at least she didn't think so until she rose the Saturday morning after her night out with the Kaiba brothers. Because the _Kaiba_ _Seto _hangover she was experiencing trumped even the residual affects of way too much vodka. This was nothing short of hell.

All the elements were there. The horror of recalling the stupid, embarrassing things she'd done, the shame, the urge to pull her covers over her head and never, _ever_ get out of bed again. She even had a piercing headache to contend with, because of the sudden weather change. Of course, while last night had been stormy and miserable, _today _just had to be sunny and cheerful. Life seemed to take great pleasure in mocking her.

_Hey Anzu, _the day seemed to say, _You know how the highly disturbing memories of the way Kaiba's body felt pressed against yours and the lingering humiliation of almost being caught kissing him are tormenting the crap out of you? I think it's terrific!_

"Good morning sweetheart," her mother's perky voice added insult to injury as Anzu, still pajama-clad and bed-headed, groggily dragged herself into the kitchen.

"Hardly," she replied, snatching a cereal box out of the cupboard. "And by the way, we're out of aspirin."

Eri furrowed her brow with concern, "You have a headache?"

"You're powers of deduction are mind-boggling."

"Lay off the attitude Persnickety McSnidenstein," her mother advised, "And while you're at it, maybe you could put _your _powers of deduction to work for me."

Anzu stuffed a handful of _Cap'n_ _Crunch _into her mouth and nodded at her mom to continue.

"Well you see," Mrs. Mazaki began, "I seem to have misplaced my daughter, and I was hoping you might know where I could find her. She's hard to miss; tons of spirit, very friendly, constantly cheerful. She's cute too; brown hair, blue eyes… actually, she looks an awful lot like you, come to think of it."

"Mom-,"

"You know, it's the strangest thing… she actually disappeared right around the time _you_ moved in," Eri tapped her chin thoughtfully, "You don't think there's a connection, do you?"

"Okay, okay, enough!" Anzu sighed loudly, collapsing into an empty chair across from Mrs. Mazaki. "I get it. I'm sorry for being so difficult, really, I don't know what's gotten into me at all."

"Well…" Eri studied her pointedly over the coffee mug she was holding, "Is there a chance it has something to do with why you were standing in the rain last night, very closely might I add, with a guy you swear you hate?"

What Anzu _really_ hated was how perceptive her mother could be at times… not that she really had to use that particular skill of hers to reach the stated suspicion. It wasn't as if anybody with half a brain looking at the situation couldn't have put two and two together. They'd been mere millimeters away from kissing for crying out loud.

She blushed, "I already explained what happened, mom."

"Mmhmm," Eri sipped her coffee, "You went on to quite an extent about how innocent the whole situation was. But it's interesting that I haven't seen you act this guilty in a long time. At the very least not since last year when we caught you and the boys trying to sneak into that R-rated movie at the theatre."

"We would have gotten away with it if you and dad had gone to the theatre across town like you always do," Anzu couldn't help but point out.

She didn't add that they'd all wound up watching the movie anyway at Honda's house when it came out on video. Or that while the violence was a bit much, Anzu had found the full frontal male nudity to be hilarious; the boys' aghast reaction had almost killed her.

"Moot point and getting away from the topic at hand," Mrs. Mazaki was a hard woman to distract. "You know your father and I believe your innocence in the tabloid incident, but I think there's a lot you're not telling us."

"Uh," Anzu refused to meet her eyes, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm sure you don't," her mother agreed. "By the way, you're blushing."

"I'm aware thank you," she blushed harder, "Now would you kindly stop it with the lawyer thing? I'm your daughter, not some criminal to be cross examined."

"I'm pretty certain we've already established that my _daughter_ has gone missing."

"Whatever," Anzu rolled her eyes.

Eri smiled, "So… are we _ever _going to talk about the fact that you and He Who Shall Not Be Named almost kissed last night, or is this another thing we're supposed to pretend never happened?"

Anzu was very glad she was sitting down; otherwise she really would have fallen over. It wasn't that her mother's directness was so surprising – she had it in her – but… well, really. Her mother had verbalized the very incident she was trying to remain in denial about. How inconsiderate of her.

It was obvious what she had to do now.

"Forget pretending," she said, "because it _really _didn't happen, or almost happen, or whatever. I already told you what happened."

"Right," Eri nodded, "I haven't forgotten your very interesting version of events. This is a really good example, by the way, of what we lawyers like to refer to as _plausible deniability._"

"You know what?" Anzu stood up, taking the cereal box with her, "I'm not discussing this anymore."

"Pleading the fifth are we? Considering your position, I'd say that's a smart move."

"Augh! You and your stupid _suspicions!_" Anzu threw her free hand up into the air, "I'm leaving now. If you need me, I'll be in the living room. Watching TV. Because it's Saturday and I could use a little mindless entertainment. I could explain what shows I'll be watching and why, but I thought I'd wing it if that's okay with you."

Eri smiled at her daughter indulgently and very deliberately turned back to her newspaper, "If you're looking for any recommendations, I've heard good things about the cartoon network."

"I'll keep that in mind," she tiredly replied, already halfway out of her mom's sight.

She collapsed onto her dad's armchair when she finally made it to the living room, curling her legs over the side and half-heartedly aiming the TV remote. An old episode of _The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show_ came to life on the screen, and Anzu stared lazily at the wild colors and frantic movements. Wile E. Coyote was engaged in homicidal pursuit of the elusive roadrunner in yet another epic chase.

She narrowed her eyes, suddenly annoyed; didn't the stupid coyote ever grow tired of the abuse? Was a stupid speeding bird really worth all the stress? The roadrunner probably didn't even taste that good – he really needed to give it up. As if on cue, Wile E. was suddenly flattened onscreen by a giant anvil.

Which made Anzu wish for an anvil of her own. It could fall from indeterminable origins like the ones in the cartoon, and squash her before she could do anything stupid in front of or, uh, _to _her good-looking employer. Of course, there was the fact that in real life, she would be sadly unable to pull her paper thin body from beneath the wreck and re-inflate herself with no major side effects. But if she was an absurdly invincible cartoon character…

Anzu sat up quickly, alert. She was… relating to Wile E. Coyote? Okay, this was worse than she had thought. Yes, there was clearly something wrong with her – almost kissing Kaiba and all – but the cartoon character in question was not somebody to be identified with. He was the villain of the story… intense irritation that was the stupid, smug roadrunner notwithstanding.

And besides, why should she be so tormented over something that the _other party _involved clearly wanted to happen too? She hadn't been alone out there; Kaiba had been closing in pretty fast, his eyes darkening, lips parting, hands moving towards her waist in slow, agonizing movements that –

Were most certainly not to be recalled with pleasure! But how could she help it? It had felt nice being close to him like that, and he had looked _so _good in the rain. His hair had separated into thick, wet locks that messily hung over his eyes, provocatively. And the droplets of water trickling onto his lips seemed to soften them, which is of course why she couldn't help staring at them in the first place.

Anzu sighed, burying a burning face in her hands. Things were very rapidly spinning out of control here. Feelings and… and _thoughts _were getting all tangled up with actions and Better Judgment. Things were being said and done that had no business doing either. She had to get a grip. Better yet, she had to get control.

She thought it over; the problem originated with the obvious… _tension _that existed between her and Kaiba. Dislike and attraction were battling with each other to the point where neither side was satisfied. And she meant that in every sense. The result had her acting like an idiot, more or less, which was not doing her any favors.

Anzu turned off the TV and rose from her dad's armchair. It was time to stop wallowing and start fixing! There was one tried-and-true method of dealing with problems that Anzu had never shied from in the past and this situation would be no exception.

If she wanted to deal with the problem, she'd just have to confront it head on.

"Hey mom!" she hurried back to the kitchen to find her mother where she'd left her, "Do you think I could have the car today?"

Eri raised an eyebrow at the sudden attitude change in her daughter; where before she'd been sullen and cranky, Anzu was now, minutes later, fidgety and vibrating with purpose.

"Where are you going?"

"_Casa Kaiba,_" she replied, slightly sheepish. But she was resolved to go through with it, motherly mocking be damned, "I have some unfinished business with the Lord of the manor."

"Mm, right," Mrs. Mazaki fished a set of keys out of her purse and tossed them in Anzu's direction, "Just be wary, governess, of crazy wives in the attic. They do like to meddle."

Anzu surprised her mother with an amused smile, "I'll be on my guard."

………………………

While her strongest impulse was to leave immediately after her mother tossed her the car keys, Anzu did have the sense to shower first. And put a decent outfit together. And add makeup. It was almost two hours before she left the house, and almost noon by the time she finally made it to the mansion.

Her momentum was anything but lost, though, and she purposefully strode through the halls she was alarmed to realize she'd become accustomed to. Her keys jangled nervously in her hand as she moved towards Kaiba's bedroom. One of the housekeepers she was on friendly terms with had told her of his whereabouts when she arrived, and while determined, Anzu couldn't help but feel anxious.

She'd never seen Seto's bedroom before, and she was uncertain of her ability to say the things she'd came to say in such an intimate environment. Of course, she was pretty sure Kaiba would move the conversation elsewhere almost immediately. Even so, the whole thing felt weird; Kaiba with a bedroom? She'd always envisioned him plugging into a cold sterile wall to recharge at night, or folding his hands over his chest and slowly lowering himself into a coffin. Well, at least until she'd recently started envisioning… other things.

Okay, she really did not need to be thinking about _that_ right now. Not when his closed door was staring her down, and winning. It was so… solid. Thick, reliable wood guarding the entrance to all that was privately Kaiba. Damn, this was intimidating. Too bad she never backed down from things she later realized she really should have. Oh well. Character flaw, and all that. There really was no way out of it now that she'd come this far.

_Suck it up, sweetie. Because at least if the outcome of this torments you later, you'll know you weren't a big fat wuss. _

She sighed, trying to fight the butterflies in her stomach and raised her fist to knock as firmly as her shaking hand would allow.

"What is it?" a familiarly deep, and terse, voice called from within.

"_It _is me, Kaiba," Anzu called back, "I need to talk to you."

Tense pause.

"It's your day off, Mazaki."

"I know that," she pursed her lips at his annoyed tone; it really wasn't encouraging. Nonetheless, he wasn't about to get off easy if she could help it… okay, poor choice of phrasing there, and her mind was clearly locked in the gutter.

She tried again, "Can I come in?"

"No!" he vehemently shut her down.

Anzu scowled, "Why not?"

"Because I said so," he snapped.

"That's not a reason," she petulantly returned, anxiety disappearing as her irritation grew. _Why_ was he such a jerk?

"That's because you are obviously operating under the delusion that I actually _owe _you an explanation," he shot back. "Go home Mazaki. Even if I did have time for you today, you're the last person I'd want to waste it on."

That sound? Her blood boiling. Anzu decided instantly that she'd had quite enough of his jackassery. She'd come here ready to confront him, so Mr. I-have-a-super-important-bug-up-my-entitled-ass was just going to have to _make time. _

"You're operating under a few delusions of your own if you think I'm just going to leave after I came all this way on my _day off _to talk to you," she tried the doorknob and was surprised to find it unlocked. She threw it open with gusto, "Now if you can spare two minutes of your _precious_ ti-yuhhh…"

All speech capabilities deserted her suddenly as Anzu spotted Kaiba, and for a moment the only sound was her keys hitting the carpet with a dull thud.

Oh lordy, he was naked. One hand was frozen reaching into his closet, the other held a pair of slacks he seemed to be discarding, and holy Christ his butt looked _way_ better out of his pants then in them.

Okay, Anzu wasn't a complete stranger to the sight of nude men. There was that mature movie at Honda's house they'd watched without parental permission. And, how could she forget the embarrassing gym class debacle where Jou's boy parts had made an awkward appearance? But… both instances had been _funny_.

The first because it was just some guy walking around his house exposed and the boys were so appalled at the unexpected flashing, she had to giggle. The second because the moment Jou's junk popped out of his shorts, the teacher was absent and the whole class fell silent. Then, a very hot senior (Mai something-or-other) Jou was crushing on happened to be cutting across the gymnasium on her way to her next class. She smoothly changed paths as her violet eyes took in a Jou as frozen in shock as the rest of them, and she stopped in front of him.

"Congratulations," she'd said, tossing her blond hair confidently, "You're manhood has been established... and outed. Now you'd better put the mouse back in the house, hun, before it dies of exposure. Not to mention the scandal."

She'd winked broadly, while an intensely blushing Jou re-adjusted himself, and Anzu had almost died trying not to laugh at the expense of her dear friend.

_This _occasion, however, was not _at all _amusing. Because the nude subject was smokin' hot, all lean muscled torso and… and _damn_ the guy was working that ass. Oh, she was a goner.

Kaiba recovered almost instantly, slipping into his pants and glaring dangerously at her, "Get out!"

But Anzu was not in a very reactive state of mind, eyes stuck on his beautiful naked stomach. It was obvious that leaving the room was the appropriate thing to do, but she couldn't make herself actually move.

Instead, she said the first thing that popped into her head, "Why are you naked? It's the middle of the day for god's sake."

As if nudity was restricted to certain hours.

"I was _changing _you idiot!"

Which just had to mean…

"You go _commando?_"

There was absolutely no good reason for her mind to have come to such a conclusion when it was pretty much non-functional at the moment. But somehow the stated fact was the only thing that made sense.

He stared at her contemptuously, "_Why _are you still in here?"

Good question.

"I… uh… well I came here for a reason."

Now to remember just what that _reason _was.

_Get a grip, _she sternly lectured herself, _Just… think unsexy thoughts. Unsexy thoughts, right. Okay. I can do this. Just… Oh God, please make him put a shirt on. I'm not ready to start fornicating!_

"You," he was suddenly advancing on her, "are teetering on the brink of unemployment, Mazaki."

He stopped in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders and turning her towards the door. She was pushed easily out into the hallway, incapable as she was of controlling her own muscles. It was all she could do to remain upright.

"Tread carefully," Kaiba delivered his parting words ominously, framed by the doorway.

Then suddenly, she was looking at the door from the outside again. Although, she did hear the distinct sound of a lock sliding into place. She stared stupidly for a moment as composure slowly returned to her, and she noticed while her thought processes picked up again, that she was shaking. Not for the same reasons as before, of course.

"Oh my _gawd,_" she whispered, leaning against the wall and slowly sliding down to sit on the floor.

Was she seriously _nervous_ a minute ago about being in Kaiba's room, of all things? She couldn't even say what it looked like after all that, although she _could _give a detailed description of his torso. Okay, that had so completely _not _gone according to plan. Not that she'd really had a plan going into this, but naked Kaiba had most certainly not been on the agenda. They were supposed to talk. Or… well, _she _was going to talk and… and _confronting_ was supposed to be taking place. Or something.

_Ohmigod!_

Well, it seemed the thing to do now was to cut her losses and go home. There was no way to beat the embarrassment of walking in on him naked; almost kissing him paled in comparison. Except… well, _naturally_ yet another obstacle had to go and stand in the way of even this _simple_ goal; she couldn't exactly leave with her car keys locked in his bedroom.

This was officially the worst day ever!

Anzu wearily buried her face in her hands. If the utter humiliation that had just taken place wasn't enough, she now had to subject herself to the further mortification of facing him again. Her cheeks colored as she considered this, and it suddenly occurred to her that _he _had not so much as blushed during the entire encounter. His voice had risen a little, but he hadn't given off any of the normal indicators that he was embarrassed. Angry, yes, but no signs of humiliation. He really was freakishly composed… or really arrogant. Most likely, both.

She sighed, resigning herself to the inevitable, and made herself comfortable on the floor. Or as comfortable as she possibly _could_ be while feeling so nervous and ashamed. Since there was obviously no way she'd be gaining entrance to his room again in this lifetime, she had only one option.

She'd just have to wait him out.

………………………

Kaiba Seto was a very rich 17-year-old. The _richest _17-year-old, actually; he was just rolling in money. There was very little he could not afford.

Which was why there was really no reason to comparison shop for a killer-for-hire. Bargain hunting was so time consuming, and at this point he would be willing to pay top dollar to have an assassin take care of his brother's nanny.

The stupid, bumbling, _intrusive _moron and her audacity, her total lack of respect for privacy, her obnoxious flapping lips that he could not _believe _he'd wanted to kiss the night before. Who would be foolish enough to want to kiss _her_?

Not Seto, that was for damn sure! Or so he told himself while he angrily finished pulling on his clothes. It wasn't that he was so self-deluded he couldn't admit that he'd been a willing participant in their recent flirting and the disaster that had almost come of it. He'd been a little… _off _for the past couple of weeks, it was true. She had gotten to him in a very sneaky, underhanded and, most importantly, _unsolicited _way. Clearly, the nutjob had the unforeseen advantage of unwittingly possessing feminine wiles that were somewhat impressive as an adversary.

But he had now identified his opponent and was more than ready to bounce back. Yes, she was pretty. Beautiful, even. He'd acknowledged as much the first day she'd stepped into his office with her insanely long legs and clingy skirt.

But enough was enough. If almost kissing her hadn't been enough to jerk him out of this pathetic downward spiral, having her walk in on him naked had certainly done it. His perma-glare intensified the more he thought about the incident. His door hadn't been locked; it had never _needed _to be locked. His household staff knew better than to enter his bedroom. Not even the maid service went in there; it was forbidden.

Of course, Mazaki didn't pay attention to the house rules. No, not her and her stubborn idiocy! He was surprised she'd even bothered to knock at all. And after he'd expressly told her that he didn't have time for her today, which was incidentally true; he was changing for a business lunch. Not that it had stopped her, naturally. And she berated _him_ for his lack of manners and his overgrown sense entitlement! She was unbelievable in every possible sense! And lucky. Because if Mokuba didn't like her so damned much (and why _the hell _did he?) she would be so fired there'd be nothing left of her but ashes.

The thought cheered him, and he smiled sadistically as he strode across the room. A pile of Mazaki ashes. She wouldn't be so attractive then, would she? And the disposal would be so simple! Ashes could be swept away to disperse in the wind and never thought of again.

…Which was actually a really good idea, the more he entertained it. Mazaki was gone now, he had more immediate problems to deal with, and she only impeded his capacity to fully function. Redirecting his train of thought to a more productive path, Seto resolved not to waste another second on _her _and her nonsense.

Of course, the "out of sight, out of mind" trick only worked if the object of one's dismissal actually remained _out of sight; _Kaiba opened the door to find her casually leaning against the wall in the hallway.

His smile vanished instantly, "Are you _trying _to get yourself fired?"

"Okay, _a)_ you're not going to fire me," she stood up to meet his eyes, and Kaiba noticed she was still blushing, "And _b) _I should _not _have barged into your room without knocking and I am so, _so _sorry."

He narrowed his eyes, "I doubt that. You seemed pleased with the view."

It was true; her mouth had been agape and her eyes had not moved from his form until he'd slammed the door in her face. Had Kaiba been in a better mood, he might have found it amusing. Annoyance was as close as he could get at the moment. Even if she did look adorable in her two layered tank tops and sheepish posture. Determination and anger created a nice little fortress to defend against _that _particular attack today.

She colored to the roots of her chestnut hair, "I would wipe the image from my mind if I could."

Well, at least he could take comfort in the fact that her memory wasn't eidetic. Because there were a lot of images Seto wished that _he_ could forget which his photographic memory wouldn't allow him to. The way a certain _very annoying _girl looked rain-soaked, shivering, and inches away from his face, for one.

But as far as Mazaki was concerned, his naked backside should fade from her not-so-precise recollection in good time so long as she didn't see it again. Which she most certainly would _not_.

He sighed irritably; he really didn't have time for whatever _this _was right now. Already he'd seen more of her than he'd wanted to today, and she had seen far more of _him_ that she _ever_ should have. (Certain past considerations moot.)

"I don't know what it is that you want, Mazaki," he brushed past her to leave, "but I have things to do and Mokuba is not here. I'll have my chauffeur take you home."

"No, it's okay," she awkwardly scratched the back of her neck, "I have wheels today… actually, I think I dropped the keys in your bedroom so…"

He relaxed minutely. So _that's _why she was still here.

Kaiba turned to find her regarding the carpet with obvious embarrassment and that blush _still _hadn't gone away. Resisting the urge to press his fingers to his temples, he wordlessly pushed his bedroom door open and, sure enough, a set of keys rested on the floor beside the entrance.

"Thanks," she mumbled, bending to retrieve them.

And Seto firmly focused his gaze on the bright pink 'World's Greatest Mom' keychain between Anzu's fingertips to avoid staring at the baby blue thong straps emerging from her capris as she stooped. Not to mention the smooth stretch of soft-looking skin her hiked up tank was suddenly exposing. As if he needed _that _kind of stress today on top of everything else.

He waited for her to leave the vicinity of his room, before very firmly closing the door and Anzu fell into step beside him as he moved to leave the mansion.

"Same direction," she explained at his peripheral scowl.

Kaiba grunted, and very pointedly picked up his pace, eager to ditch her. He wanted to insult her to relieve some of the tension, but he'd learned enough from their past encounters to be sure that was not the way to handle things. Such actions would only serve to increase her attractiveness.

"So," an obviously uncomfortable Anzu interrupted the heavy silence to make a valiant attempt at civil, _normal _conversation, "Where _is _Mokuba today?"

"Mrs. Aihara wanted today off to take her grandchildren swimming," Kaiba coolly explained, "Mokuba was invited to go with them, and I said it was okay."

"Oh," her tone perked slightly and Kaiba was sure that if he looked at her (which he was pointedly avoiding), he'd find her smiling. "Good. That sounds like fun for him."

"Mm."

Non-committal noises were safe.

Beside him, Mazaki heaved a determined sigh, and he caught her chin raising out of the corner of his eye. She tipped her head up completely, before he could fully look away, and turned a beseeching gaze to the heavens.

"What are you doing?" he found himself asking, "Don't tell me you've turned to religion."

"Not really," she replied, "Just… looking for an anvil."

He would _not _ask, and indulge further idiocy. But apparently she was now on a roll.

"Look," she began in an emboldened voice, and he knew that he was not going to like whatever followed.

He knew that _tone. _That… _inflection _she got every time she was about to say something he was not particularly eager to hear.

"This is really so intensely _awkward_ right now, it's kind of the perfect time to get all this highly embarrassing stuff I need to tell you out of the way." Anzu giggled nervously, "Because who wants to recreate this scene later on, right?"

Yet another homerun; Kaiba was starting to wonder what it felt like to be _wrong. _Not that he'd ever know, of course.

He finally stopped to look at her. They were outside now, beneath the clear, careless sky and escape in the form of his _Porsche_ was just a few yards away. She had no trouble meeting his eyes this time around, and he couldn't help wishing she'd kept them fixed on the ground. He hated when she put them on equal footing and was unafraid… which was all the time actually, and what had gotten him into trouble in the first place. She really was infuriating.

"I won't bother citing dignity or self-control as reasons for you to shut up and leave already," he scornfully decided, "because you clearly possess neither. But I won't sell you short; you have a talent for humiliating yourself _without _trying. Don't feel like you have to impress me by doing it on purpose."

"Pry yourself away from the ego-bong for half a second before you overdose," she advised, rolling her eyes, "What time is your appointment?"

"That is none of your concern," he snapped.

"Fine," Anzu sighed, "I'm going to guess 1:30, because you were only just changing when I got here and I know that _you _are _never _in a rush."

Even with the telltale blush that returned to her cheeks at the allusion to certain events, her accuracy was unnerving. But Seto refused to let it show.

Not that he needed to, it seemed.

"You have far more than two minutes to spare," Anzu decided, "which is all I need."

"You've already had more than your fair share," he narrowed his eyes, "But far be it from me to stand in the way of your need to prove what a fool you are."

"Your generosity moves me," she deadpanned.

Finally after steady, unrelenting annoyance, a smirk found its way to Seto's lips. He couldn't help but take pleasure in her growing irritation.

"You have my undivided attention," he assured her, "So try to at least be entertaining."

"Well you have a sick sense of humor, so you'll undoubtedly find this hilarious."

Anzu's hands began to flutter and she bit her lower lip nervously, but her gaze remained steadily fixed on his.

"Okay so here's the thing, Kaiba," she ran trembling fingers through her hair, "Lying doesn't exactly agree with my system. I mean, I've been trying it out lately - a lot actually – and it's not really working for me. My conscience is rejecting it, I think, because I've always strongly believed in honesty. With my parents, of course, and my friends, but especially with myself. And avoiding the truth can be tricky, because it never really goes away – it just kind of hovers around in the background driving you crazy and putting you in compromising situations and just basically guilt-tripping the hell out of you. It's enough to get a person picking up their ethics from wherever they discarded them, and dusting them off to start fresh."

Kaiba expertly kept his features schooled in a mostly expressionless façade, but he was incredulous beneath the surface. He wasn't sure what exactly he was supposed to say to this, so he just did what came naturally to him.

"Riveting speech," he commented drolly, studying his nails.

"Yeah," she agreed with forced cheer, "Well public speaking has always been a talent of mine. If this dancing thing doesn't pan out, I'll make a killing on the motivational circuit."

"Now I know you're more ambitious than _that_," he caustically observed, "Forget shepherding spineless losers to buy your books when you could skip right ahead to starting your own cult. I'll even supply funding for the Kool-Aid if you promise to drink it too."

"Honest people don't start cults Kaiba," Anzu soberly replied.

She stepped forward, pinning him with eyes that refused to quiver with the rest of her. The girl was bold, he'd give her that; she probably really _could_ start a cult. He didn't imagine she'd have trouble swaying people, if not through charm and sweetness, by sheer force of her impressive will.

"So coming to the point," she continued, "I'm not going to lie anymore. Last night may have been stupid, and it was probably a huge mistake, but I _really _wanted to kiss you. And I think you would have kissed me too if my mom hadn't interrupted. You can deny it, if you want, but I won't believe you."

Kaiba narrowed his eyes. Of _course _he'd wanted to kiss her – that was the problem. That was what he was recovering from, and trying to forget, and move on from. It was temporary insanity. Who the hell did she think she was, barging in on him and ogling his nude body, only to follow it up with the admission that she'd wanted to kiss him? As if that much hadn't been obvious. As if they weren't supposed to be pretending it never happened and going back to hating each other.

It was a tie in the game, the mutual almost-kiss, a freebie to remain off the record. It was cancelled out on either side of the scorecard. Why was she trying to make it count for something?

"I don't know what you think you're accomplishing," he said with a glare, "But… _that _was nothing."

She took a step closer, and Seto was suddenly very uncomfortable at her nearness. The stupid girl was close enough that he could make out the sapphire flecks in her eyes, close enough that her body heat caressed him. Of course, he couldn't take a step back now without conceding defeat.

_Damn it!_

Anzu was raising her eyebrow, a challenging gesture, "A mistake?"

"Yes," he replied firmly and succinctly, "Exactly. A mistake."

She smiled, and Kaiba was struck by the fact that she wasn't trembling anymore. In fact, she looked downright confident. How the hell had the tables turned so fast? At some point in the past thirty seconds or so, she'd found her footing, and now she was looking to disarm him. He stared her down, holding onto his cold expression. She would not be winning this round.

"I thought," she said very deliberately, "that Kaiba Seto didn't make _mistakes_."

Seto felt his frustration mounting at the remark; he could feel the corner she was trying so calmly to back him into. He controlled it, refusing to lose his cool.

"I don't," he assured her, "The _mistake_ would have been kissing you."

"Maybe," she agreed, eyebrows knitting together, "but you wanted it as much as I did. And I think that we'll find ourselves in the same position sooner or later if we just ignore it."

"We won't," Seto assured her, "because I won't let it happen."

"Is that so?" she leaned forward, poking him in the chest, "Care to put your oh-so-disposable money where your mouth is?"

He laughed at that. Did she really think she could win a bet with him in which actual stakes were involved? An announced, official, competition? She may have held her own against him in the past few weeks, but she was way out of her depth here. He couldn't lose _this_.

"You're challenging me?" he wanted to be clear, "And what are the terms?"

"I kiss you first," she said, "and you may humiliate me however you choose. But if you kiss me first, I get to keep my earnings for this job to spend as I choose, and _you_ can foot the complete bill for _Abukara_ in the fall."

Kaiba smiled, the wheels already turning in his brain on just how he would humiliate her when she lost. She had something coming to her anyway, after the indignity he'd suffered earlier because she apparently didn't know how to _knock. _He owed her.

"I accept," he said, "and you're going to regret it."

She simply smiled at that, mellowly, confidently, "Well then I guess it's game on."

………………………

Anzu sat in her mother's blue _Accord _for a full five minutes after Kaiba's _Porsche _fed her dust. She was too hyped up to drive, adrenaline making her body tremble for the billionth time that day. But a sense of accomplishment enveloped her even as she wondered about the bet she'd made with her boss (Kaiba wasn't one to lose). She'd said what had needed to be said, she'd confronted the problem head on, and she didn't know who that bold, confident girl she'd been channeling was, but she was welcome to stick around! With her help, winning the bet wouldn't be a problem.

Of course, she also had to take into account the other girl she was channeling today. The hormonal girl who could not get the image of Kaiba's hot bod out of her brain. That girl might pose some threats, but she could be controlled, right? She wasn't a slave to her passions! Honda was so very wrong about her impulse control issues; she was a master of self-control. Besides, what kind of nympho freak couldn't keep her hands to herself? Honestly, there was nothing to worry about.

Except, maybe, Kaiba's insanely competitive nature that would pull out all the stops to win anything. Which meant…

_Oh shit._

………………………

_Author's notes:_ _Gratuitous nudity! Meta-humor! Gratuitous nudity! Jane Eyre! Gratuitous nudity! … Yes, I'm shameless. But on the plus side, it totally cheered my cranky ass up – and maybe if I'm lucky it'll make the "We want Racy!" camp happy. _

_Anyway, I pushed the tabloid stuff to next chapter, because this one was getting pretty crowded. Also, next chapter: Anzu continues with her honesty theme. _


End file.
